


The Show Must Go On!

by Lady_Blade_WarAngel



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Circus, Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Police, Attempted Murder, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Death, F/M, Gen, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Murder, Murder Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-06-26
Packaged: 2018-03-15 19:54:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 30,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3459941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Blade_WarAngel/pseuds/Lady_Blade_WarAngel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Jaime! We’ve got a floater in the Rush!” Addam called him. Jaime blinked as he looked up from his paperwork.</p><p>“That’s not unusual.” Jaime said. He knew it was sad. There was a time when he’d have leapt to his feet and run off to solve the murder as quickly as was humanly possible. Now... after several years on the police force, Jaime had become rather jaded.</p><p>“It’s been identified as Petyr Baelish.” Addam said. Now this caught Jaime’s attention......</p><p>(A Murder Mystery story for A Song Of Murder And Mayhem)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Murder Most Foul

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this isn't a prompt, but it IS a Murder Mystery. I wrote it especially for A Song Of Murder And Mayhem. Which has been organised by the lovely Quizzical Quinnia. Check out her work, because it's amazing. (nods)
> 
> Anywho, I hope you all enjoy this and the fun fic fest that QQ has been planning for a while. (nods)

The Show Must Go On.

Chapter 1 – Murder Most Foul.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

“Why don’t you stay once in a while?” Jaime asked, as his lover pulled up her panties and shrugged on her bra. She sat on the bed for a moment and looked at him, blue eyes sparkling, pale, straw blonde hair hanging in a mess down her shoulders, before leaning over to press her lips to his. He pulled her towards him, deepening the kiss, and a thrill going straight through him at the light moan that she tried to suppress.

“I have to go Jaime.” She said breathily. Jaime had no idea how anyone could not call her womanly. A scar across one side of her body, did not make anyone more or less feminine as far as Jaime was concerned. He wanted her to stay, but he knew she wouldn’t. Once she made up her mind to go, there was no stopping her. She was stubborn. Jaime knew almost next to nothing about Brienne really. He knew that she travelled a lot. But she always seemed to come back. He was always waiting too. She came back and forth to King’s Landing on a regular basis, so in the three years they’d been carrying on a relationship, or a strange fuck buddy system, as it were, he saw her quite regularly. But there were three months of the year, intermittingly, when he didn’t see her at all. He knew she’d received her scar, she hadn’t been born with it, but from what, why, or how it all happened, she never divulged. He knew that she could blush at the slightest provocation, but became a different woman in the bedroom. There, she knew what she wanted and when she wanted it. She was nothing like his cousin Cersei however. For that, Jaime was glad.

“Why do you always run off like a thief in the night?” Jaime asked Brienne as she slipped on the jeans and blue plaid tunic shirt, that she’d been wearing. She looked at a missing button with a slight frown, but shrugged as she merely left the top three buttons undone.

“I don’t run off like a thief in the night. I have work.” Brienne said softly, as she pulled her long hair into a messy bun. She didn’t even run her fingers through it, or attempt to tame it at all. Even tied up, strands stuck out at all angles, looking a mess, but Jaime loved how unpretentious it was. She didn’t care if she looked a mess. Jaime raised a brow.

“You never told me what job you do.” Jaime said. Brienne smiled at Jaime.

“No I didn’t.” She said. Then she reached over, cupped a hand around his cheek, and kissed him gently. “I probably won’t either.” Brienne said, almost sadly. Then she was gone. Jaime laid in his bed, trying to imagine Brienne’s life. He had always known almost every detail of Cersei’s life. They had practically grown up as siblings. Cersei had demanded Jaime’s attention when she wanted, and for him to disappear when she wanted him to. Cersei expected Jaime to take no lovers, but expected him to be alright with her marriage. Cersei expected his absolute loyalty, but had never given him the same in return. It had nearly destroyed him when he’d walked in to her house to find her sprawled across a rug, in front of a roaring fireplace, being fucked by their other cousin, Lancel. But he had somehow strung the pieces of his broken heart back together, and had built up his own life. Mostly it was about his work. He was a police detective. But sometimes, in fact, eerily, it would sometimes be at the perfect time, Brienne would show up at his door. They didn’t always fuck. But Jaime felt that Brienne held herself back from everyone around her. Their relationship had started out as a simple one night stand that had turned into a fuck buddy/friends with benefits relationship, and for some reason, Jaime had let himself get attached to her. He hoped that getting attached to Brienne wasn’t a terrible mistake. After all, you can’t choose who you love.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

“Jaime! We’ve got a floater in the Rush!” Addam called him. Jaime blinked as he looked up from his paperwork.

“That’s not unusual.” Jaime said. He knew it was sad. There was a time when he’d have leapt to his feet and run off to solve the murder as quickly as was humanly possible. Now... after several years on the police force, Jaime had become rather jaded.

“It’s been identified as Petyr Baelish.” Addam said. Now _this_ caught Jaime’s attention.

“You mean the asshole Vice has been trying to catch for years, because he runs brothels?” Jaime asked.

“He doesn’t just run brothels Jaime. Well... he _didn’t_ just run them. He owned almost every single one of them here in King’s Landing, and a few overseas too. They think he was into human trafficking, drug smuggling and a few other lucrative criminal activities, including credit card fraud.” Addam said. Jaime nodded and grabbed his coat.

“Okay, let’s go and find out what happened to this asshole, even though I know no one is going to give a shit.” Jaime said. Addam shrugged as they left the police station.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Jaime and Addam got out of their squad car, heading over to the Rush, where a team from Crime Scene Investigation, was doing their job. They showed their badges to get past the cordon, as people crowded around, looking to catch a glimpse of the body.

“People are more fucking animal than human nowadays.” Jaime said to Addam. Addam nodded as he glanced at the crowd. He saw children there, and snorted derisively.

“What kind of parents let their kids come and gawk at a dead body? I’ve heard of morbid curiosity, but this takes the fucking piss.” Addam said. Jaime nodded his agreement. As they got closer, Jaime noted the body, still in the water. Dark hair, shortish, a little bloated from soaking in the river, at least overnight. Jaime and Addam went to the head of the team, Doctor Jon Connington.

“What have we got here, Doctor Connington?” Jaime asked.

“Well, we found identification on him, in his wallet. It makes me think this wasn’t a robbery at any rate. He’s still wearing a gold watch, gold rings and a gold chain around his neck. His suit is expensive and so are his shoes. But nothing was taken from his person as far as we know. We’ve identified the victim as Petyr Baelish. From what we can tell so far, I think it’s safe to say this was a dumpsite, not the site of the murder.” Connington said.

“Who found the body?” Addam asked.

“Three kids from the circus camp, found the body.” Connington said, vaguely gesturing in the direction, of where both detectives could see a large tent in the distance on the other side of the river. “They’re all pretty shaken up. Apart from that, we’ve got no idea where to start.” Connington stated. Jaime looked over the general view from where they were. The Blackwater Rush had a tendency to always be wild, even when there were no storms. So even though there had been no storms for over a week, it’s possible that Baelish could have been washed up to this point from anywhere in the Rush. He took another look at the circus tent he could see in the distance. He’d never thought about the circus there. He’d heard Myrcella and Tommen pleading enough times that they wanted to go and see it, but Jaime had never had to go anywhere near it. He’d never been interested in it either, until now.

“You said that’s the circus camp, right?” Jaime asked.

“Yeah. Don’t you know about it Jaime? That’s Olenna Tyrell’s Cabinet of Curiosities Circus and Funfair. They leave King’s Landing about four times a year. When the kids in the circus aren’t at school, Easter, Summer and Christmas and sometimes when the kids are off for half term, they go to Rosby to perform for a few nights. I’m surprised you don’t know about them. The three kids who found the body come from there, Connington just told you.” Addam said. Jaime shrugged.

“Never paid much attention to Circuses. I don’t have any kids after all.” Jaime replied. Although he knew that his cousin’s children might very well be his own. Jaime knew better than to bother voicing any such thought. To them, he was Uncle Jaime, and that was all he’d ever be.

“You know, we’re gonna need to go to all his ‘businesses’ and question his ‘employees’ right?” Addam said. Jaime sighed.

“I get the feeling this is going to be a long fucking day.” Jaime muttered irritably, as they watched the team, who were still taking pictures of the scene and looking for particulates.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

It was at the police station that Jaime got the biggest shock of his life. The three child witnesses, eight year old Shireen and Loreza and seven year old Rhaego, were all clearly frightened, and waiting for their parents to come for them. Jaime could see they were wearing their school uniforms. They had clearly been on their way to school this morning. Jaime crouched in front of the three children.

“Were you walking by yourselves to school?” Jaime asked them gently. Shireen shook her head vigorously.

“No sir. We were with the others, but Rhaego’s tie blew out of his hand, and we went to look for it, but we lost the others.” Shireen said softly. Her blue eyes were wide and frightened.

“It’s alright. I’m sure your parents will be here soon.” Jaime said, trying to offer them some comfort.

“We’ve only got mums. Apart from Loreza. She’s got a dad.” Rhaego said. He then grabbed hold of Shireen’s and Loreza’s arms, looking slightly terrified of the sound of his own voice.

“Shireen!” Jaime recognised the voice. He knew as he stood up and turned around, Shireen flying past him, that he was going to see Brienne when he turned.

“Mum! I’m sorry mum! We didn’t mean to get lost! We didn’t! Then we saw Mister Baelish in the water and it was horrible!” Shireen exclaimed between sobs. Jaime saw two other women come in behind Brienne.

“Mum!” Rhaego yelled, running over to the silver haired female.

“Mama!” Loreza called out, running to the tanned, dark haired female, beside the blonde. The women were soothing their children, before Brienne finally looked up and noticed him. Her eyes went wide for a few moments, before she schooled her features. She placed her daughter down on the ground and the child grabbed her hand tightly. Jaime took note of the scar on the girl’s face. Jaime looked at the women and the children.

“We should have been told before our children were taken to a police station.” The silver haired woman said.

“We would have done if we could have found a phone number, Mrs?” Jaime questioned.

“Miss. Daenerys Targaryen.” The woman said coolly. The dark haired female stepped forward.

“I am Miss Ellaria Sand.” The woman introduced herself. From her accent, Jaime could tell she was Dornish. Brienne looked at Jaime.

“We’ve met, so you know my name.” Brienne said. The two other women looked at Brienne curiously, before looking back at Jaime.

“Well, Miss Targaryen, would you have rather the children stay at the crime scene?” Jaime asked. Daenerys frowned.

“They did the right thing to bring them here Dany. They couldn’t leave the kids there... with... Baelish.” Brienne said to her gently. Daenerys seemed to calm, as she hugged her son to her side. The boy looked at Jaime with wide eyes. Ellaria said very little, just stroked her daughter’s hair, soothing her.

“I’m sorry about all of this. But we do need to talk to Shireen, Loreza and Rhaego about what they saw.” Jaime said. Brienne looked at Jaime, made eye contact, blue on green, then nodded. Daenerys seemed to be looking for Brienne’s opinion, before she too nodded. Ellaria nodded as well.

“I understand how it works.” Brienne said. She crouched down in front of Shireen. “Sweetie, listen to me, the detective is going to ask you about what happened today. I know that you’re scared, but you’re not in any trouble. I want you to tell the truth okay? Even if you think it’s something that will upset me, you don’t have to worry, just tell the truth, and then we can go home.” Brienne told her gently. Shireen nodded her understanding. Daenerys appeared to be saying the same thing to her son, as Ellaria spoke to her daughter. Jaime saw Addam come over with Pia Harrenhal, the social worker who normally sat in on interviews involving children. She was nice enough, bubbly and friendly, and in a relationship with a rookie cop they all nicknamed Peck, although his name was actually Josamyn Peckledon. But another man was with them. Jaime recognised him as Mance Rayder. He was another social worker, and Jaime wondered what he was doing there.

“Brienne? Daenerys? Ellaria? How are you all?” Mance greeted them as though he knew them very well. Jaime narrowed his eyes at the interaction.

“We’re fine, thank you Mance.” Brienne replied. Shireen looked up at Mance and smiled.

“Hello Mister Rayder.” Shireen said.

“Hello Shireen. I heard you, Loreza and Rhaego had an adventure today.” Mance said. Shireen shook her head, looking perfectly serious.

“No. Adventures are fun.” Shireen replied honestly. Addam came to stand next to Jaime.

“He’s been a social worker liaison for the circus people for years. He knows them all really well, so Pia brought him along. He would have been called at any rate.” Addam said. Jaime and Addam led the group into the room they used to interview children. It was painted white, but had drawings and paintings hanging on the walls. There were chairs, a small table, and bean bags for the children to sit on. There was even a crate of toys in the corner. Jaime watched as Shireen, Loreza and Rhaego grabbed bean bags, Shireen’s was blue, Loreza’s was orange and Rhaego’s was red, and set them in front of the table and sat down. Brienne, Daenerys and Ellaria pulled up chairs behind their children. Pia sat at one end of the table and Mance sat at the other, while Jaime and Addam sat across from the children and their mothers. There was a tape recorder on the table, and the room had a security camera. But the children seemed unfazed by this. Jaime looked at the children.

“Okay Shireen, Loreza, Rhaego, I want you all to know before we start that there is a camera in here, and this.” Jaime patted the tape recorder in the middle of the table. “Is a tape recorder. I’m going to ask you questions and this tape recorder will be on, so that we don’t forget what you said. Alright?” Jaime always tried to be kind to children. It wasn’t their faults that they saw things they really shouldn’t have. Loreza, Rhaego and Shireen all nodded, wide eyed. Jaime pressed the switch on the tape recorder, issued the names of those present in the room and the date of the interview before he looked at the children again. “Okay, Loreza, Shireen, Rhaego, I’d like you to tell me what happened from when you left the circus until you found... Mister Baelish...” Jaime said to them. Shireen looked at Jaime, big blue eyes wide and curious, then she started to speak.

“We left at eight like we do every day.” Shireen said. Rhaego nodded his agreement.

“Yeah, we always go to school with Sansa, Arya, Bran, Rickon and Joanna.” Rhaego said. Shireen nodded then.

“Yeah, and Lommy, Hot Pie, Jojen and Meera.” Shireen added.

“And my sisters, Sarella, Elia, Obella and Dorea.” Loreza added.

“Meera, Sarella and Sansa are the oldest, so they make sure that we all go to school.” Shireen added.

“But my tie blew out of my hand.” Rhaego said. Shireen nodded.

“Yeah, Rhaego’s tie blew out of his hand, and so we stopped.” Shireen said.

“We just wanted to go and get Rhaego’s tie. The teachers don’t like us at school and if they saw Rhaego without his tie, they would have told him to go home and he can’t go home by himself.” Loreza said.

“So after Rhaego’s tie blew out of his hand, what happened?” Jaime asked gently.

“Well... we...” Loreza looked up at her mother, then at Daenerys and Brienne. “It blew over the fences, near the river.” Loreza said. Shireen and Rhaego nodded.

“It really did.” Rhaego said.

“We’re not supposed to climb over the fences. Our mums say it’s dangerous because of the river.” Loreza added.

“But we just wanted to get Rhaego’s tie. We didn’t want to go in the river and we were just going to get the tie and catch up.” Shireen added as well. They all looked at their mothers sheepishly.

“So we climbed the fence and ran down, there’s a little hill there, and the tie was blowing down it.” Loreza said.

“So we chased it.” Rhaego said.

“When we got it, we were a lot closer to the river then we was supposed to be.” Shireen added.

“I picked up my tie, and Shireen helped me tie it.” Rhaego said. “I’m not very good with it.” He added, looking embarrassed.

“Then I saw something... floating in the water...” Loreza said, trailing off, looking pale.

“We thought... when we looked, we thought it was someone drowning.” Shireen added.

“So we got closer to see. We... we thought maybe we could help.” Loreza said.

“But... we saw... we thought it was a dummy. Like those ones you see in the shop windows.” Rhaego said.

“He was all pale and he didn’t move. He was... his face was still in the water.” Loreza said. Shireen nodded.

“I... I recognised the rings on his fingers. He... he tried to hurt my mum and Sansa... Mister Baelish did... and I was there... I remember what his rings and his watch look like.” Shireen said. Jaime’s eyes shot to Brienne, who didn’t meet Jaime’s gaze, just stroked her daughter’s hair. “So I knew it was him.” Shireen finished.

“We... we didn’t know what to do.” Rhaego said, tears started to fall down his face.

“We tried calling for the others, but they were gone. They must have gone ahead of us. They... we didn’t tell them we were going. We didn’t think we was gonna be so long.” Loreza said, tears in her own eyes.

“I... I saw the police car and I yelled and waved at it. I thought... if we called the police car, then the policeman would make it okay.” Shireen said. She was trembling.

“The policeman was nice. He said he was called officer Peckledon, but we could call him Peck.” Rhaego added.

“And he asked us what was wrong, so we told him what happened.” Loreza said.

“Then... we took him to... to Mister Baelish.” Shireen said.

“Then more police cars came, and... we were told we had to go to the police station.” Rhaego said. Daenerys glared at Jaime.

“Yeah, the policeman, officer Blount, he was mean, not like Peck at all.” Loreza said. Shireen nodded.

“Yeah, he said us circus freaks are just trouble.” Shireen added. Brienne’s blue eyes went dark with anger.

“Officer Blount should not have said that to you, that was rude and unkind.” Pia told the children gently. They seemed mollified by this, at least they didn’t look so sad. They looked back at Jaime.

“So Peck brought us to the police station and gave us drinks!” Rhaego said. Shireen and Loreza nodded.

“Yeah, we like Peck.” Loreza said. Shireen nodded.

“Yeah, he’s much nicer than officer Blount.” Shireen added. “Then we had to wait until now, when you brought us to this room and we had to tell you what happened, so that’s the end.” Shireen finished. Jaime nodded at the children.

“Do you all agree that this is what happened?” Jaime asked them. They all nodded vigorously. A chorus of ‘Yes Sir’ came from the three children. Jaime asked them a few little questions. Small things that they may not have thought important, but usually were. Finally he asked the one question he was dreading. “Do any of you know someone who might want to hurt Mister Baelish?” Jaime asked the children. He saw their mothers tense up.

“Nobody liked Mister Baelish.” Loreza said firmly.

“He was mean!” Rhaego exclaimed.

“He... he tried to hurt lots of people. My mum, and Sansa, and Ros, and Shae, and... lots of people.” Shireen said. Jaime nodded his understanding. He shut off the tape recorder and then looked at the three women and their children.

“Okay, we’ve got everything we need. But we may have to come and speak to you all again. Is that alright?” Jaime asked. He looked at the mothers, but it was the children who answered.

“That’s okay Detective Lannister.” Loreza said.

“Just don’t bring that mean officer Blount.” Rhaego said. Shireen nodded.

“Yeah. You’re nice. We like you.” Shireen said. Jaime couldn’t help a stab of pride at the idea that Brienne’s daughter liked him. Brienne allowed a soft smile to cross her face for a few seconds, then her features were blank again. As they group stood up and everyone made their way out of the room, towards the exit of the police station, Jaime allowed his hand to brush Brienne’s arm. She looked at him.

“I’d like to talk to you.” Jaime said softly, so as not to allow the others to hear. Brienne nodded.

“I know. You know where I live, feel free to come and find me.” Brienne said back, her voice soft too. Jaime watched at the group left the police station, wondering exactly what had been started by the murder of Petyr Baelish, and whether it was worth trying to catch his killer.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Jaime frowned as he looked down at a pile of files that had been dumped on his desk by Addam.

“I thought these might be helpful. They’re sending me to talk to Baelish’ ‘employees’, so you get to deal with the circus.” Addam said. Jaime frowned.

“Aren’t we supposed to work in pairs?” Jaime asked. Addam snorted.

“Of course we are, but the chief wants us to figure this out as soon as possible. Otherwise people are going to start panicking. You know, a prominent businessman who _isn’t_ your father, was murdered and dumped in the Rush. It’s already becoming tabloid fodder, and Chief Selmy wants it all cleared up as soon as, whether your father is the doer or not.” Addam said. Jaime snorted.

“Well if he was, I wouldn’t defend him. You know that much.” Jaime replied.

“Well, just in case, I’m doing the business associates, dragging Peck along to get him used to it all. That way no one can say you were prejudiced.” Addam said. Jaime nodded.

“I don’t think I’ll have a problem dealing with the circus.” Jaime said. Addam shrugged.

“You might. Those files are murders and assaults that have happened within their little community. There are plenty of unsolved murders and nasty crimes in there. Not only that, but Baelish owned the land where they pitch up while here in King’s Landing.” Addam told Jaime seriously. Jaime frowned.

“What do you mean?” Jaime asked.

There are rumours that he tried to recruit girls at the circus, for his brothels. There are rumours that anyone who tried to question him got hurt or killed. Some of those files go back to about twenty years ago. It’s possible that Baelish picked the wrong person to mess with and got killed. They look after their own there Jaime. None of them would grass up one of their own. They’ll cooperate with the police to a certain extent, but if they think you suspect one of their own for the crime, they’ll clam up. Honour amongst thieves, or the fact that they see themselves as a family, they won’t give any sort of information about their own.” Addam told Jaime seriously. Jaime nodded, taking a breath, before he picked up the file at the top to look at first. Addam walked off, dragging Peck with him. After Addam and Peck were gone, Jaime decided to look at the files later. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what he read at any rate. So he decided to go to the circus camp and talk to residents.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

“Look mate! We don’t know you and we don’t owe you anything!” A tall, black haired girl stated angrily. Her blue eyes flashed with anger, and Jaime was reminded of his cousin’s husband, Robert.

 _“It wouldn’t surprise me. That asshole has been running around sticking his cock in anything that moves since he knew what to do with it.”_ Jaime thought to himself. As soon as Jaime had gotten to the camp, he was summarily cut off by a group of men, young and old, and of course, this rather annoying girl.

“Your here to ask questions about that bastard Baelish. Personally, we’d give them a medal.” One young man said. His grey eyes flashed as he stared Jaime down.

“Besides, we don’t trust cops.” Another dark haired young man stated. He had an arrogant and rather lazy posture, a smirk on his face, as he leaned against a black pickup truck.

“Jaime?” Jaime was shocked beyond belief when he saw a familiar face slip through the group to stand in front of him.

“Tyrion?” Jaime questioned. “What are you doing here?” Jaime asked.

“He’s always been here. Most of you Lannisters are assholes.” The girl said angrily.

“Mya, my brother had nothing to do with all that.” Tyrion said gently to the girl. She shrugged and looked at the men gathered round.

“We can’t break up a family reunion. Come on.” Mya said. The men all shrugged and wandered off, back to whatever they had been doing before, most likely. Jaime found himself kneeling in the dirt, his arms around his little brother, and his brother’s arms around him too.

“I missed you so much Tyrion.” Jaime said.

“I’m sorry for not contacting you.” Tyrion replied. Jaime pulled back and looked at his brother carefully. Tyrion was no longer the little boy that Jaime needed to protect, but he had left home when he was sixteen and Jaime hadn’t seen him since. That was about fifteen years ago. “Why don’t we go and talk in my trailer brother?” Tyrion asked. Jaime nodded and Tyrion led Jaime towards where a good few trailers were parked up. Jaime had never seen such a variety of colours. He noticed a sapphire blue one across from Tyrion’s, which was painted a bright crimson and gold. “That’s Brienne’s trailer. She’s a daredevil. I don’t know how she does it. She’s always been kind to me and Joanna.” Tyrion said softly. Jaime registered the unfamiliar name and looked at his brother.

“Joanna?” Jaime asked.

“My daughter.” Tyrion replied. Jaime nodded, not sure how to react to the fact that he was a proper uncle, and hadn’t known. That was when Jaime saw Brienne walking towards her trailer. She stopped dead looking at Jaime and then at Tyrion. “It’s okay Brienne. He’s my older brother.” Tyrion said.

“We’ve met, although I didn’t know he was your brother.” Brienne said. Shireen came running up behind her.

“Hi Detective Lannister! Hi Tyrion!” Shireen said.

“Hello Shireen.” Tyrion replied to the girl fondly. Shireen grinned. Then she looked at Brienne.

“Mum, can I go and watch them set up for tonight? Nym’s going to practise her knife act with Obara on the wheel!” Shireen asked excitedly.

“Alright sweetheart. But be careful.” Brienne told her. Shireen went haring off. Brienne looked at Jaime and Tyrion. “I’ll... be in my trailer...” Brienne trailed off. Then she opened her trailer door and was gone within moments. Jaime looked at Tyrion.

“So, maybe we can have that conversation?” Jaime asked. Tyrion nodded and led Jaime inside. Jaime was surprised by how nice the trailer was. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but it was this. There were chairs, a small kitchenette, a bathroom that Jaime saw through another door.

“It’s weird isn’t it?” Tyrion questioned. Jaime blinked and looked at his brother.

“It is. I never expected to see you here. So close to us, but never in contact.” Jaime replied. Tyrion nodded.

“That was father’s doing. He came to see me, shortly after my wife died. Not to offer his sympathies of course, but to tell me that if I made contact with you, that he would disown you.” Tyrion replied. Jaime bristled at that.

“He disowned me anyway. I wouldn’t give up my job on the force. Besides, you should have known I don’t give a shit about the money. You’re my little brother.” Jaime said. Tyrion nodded.

“I know. That’s why I didn’t want to make you choose.” Tyrion said.

“You said... your wife died?” Jaime asked, having registered all of what Tyrion had said to him.

“Yes. She... she was killed after falling from a trapeze during a rehearsal. There wasn’t a safety net, but... but she’d never fallen...” Tyrion trailed off, his eyes full of sadness.

“How old was your daughter? When she died?” Jaime asked.

“Just a few months old. Joanna has been all I had for years. I want to protect her. Which is much easier to do now that Baelish is dead.” Tyrion said. Jaime started at that, looking at his little brother.

“Why does everyone here seem to hate Baelish so much?” Jaime asked.

“Because he was a monster Jaime.” Tyrion replied.


	2. Come See Us Where We Roam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay all, here is the second chapter. I hope it's exciting and awesome for you all. Thank you to everyone who commented, read and kudos'ed me. I am so grateful. (nods)
> 
> Warning this chapter is a LITTLE dark. Not TOO much, but it is.

The Show Must Go On!

Chapter 2 – Come See Us Where We Roam.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

“What do you mean? He’s a monster?” Jaime asked, wanting more of an explanation. He knew that Tyrion had never used the word ‘monster’ lightly. Not since he was five, and he had tugged on Cersei’s skirt and asked her for a hug, and she had screamed the word in his face.

 _“Why would I hug a little monster like you?”_ She’d screamed at him. Jaime recalled being very angry with his cousin that day, as he had spent the rest of it comforting his little brother. He had always determined to give Tyrion the love he needed and wanted, because no one else had seen fit to. But Jaime knew that for Tyrion to use the word monster, to refer to Baelish, that the man very likely deserved the title.

“He’s done some monstrous things, Jaime. Things you wouldn’t believe, even if I told you of them.” Tyrion said.

“Well it might help if I did know Tyrion.” Jaime replied. Tyrion sighed.

“Baelish owned the land here. I don’t know who owns it now. He... look... he expected to get certain things here. If... if people interfered, they ended up dead. It’s happened more than once. If you ask for files about reported incidents here... there are a lot.” Tyrion started. Jaime felt confused. He had a pile of case files on his desk that Addam had given him, but he’d wanted to come and speak to the people here himself. It also may have had something to do with the fact that he wanted to speak to Brienne.

“What is it exactly that he wanted?” Jaime asked.

“Jaime... Baelish owned brothels... a _lot_ of brothels. He’s... he was around the same age as our father, you know. He preyed on young girls. Teenagers, like my Joanna, were his favourites.” Tyrion said bitterly.

“He tried to... to coerce your daughter into working for him?” Jaime asked. Tyrion glared fiercely.

“He tried. If not for Brienne, I don’t know what he might have done. I was helping Olenna with her accounts. My... my girlfriend Shae, she was practising with Ellaria and Ros, and some of the others. This was... this was last year...” Tyrion trailed off, looking a little shaken. He took a deep breath. Jaime waited for him to continue. “Joanna walks with the other kids, when she goes to school, but there are a lot of us. She walked back here with Shireen. She made sure that Shireen got back into Brienne’s trailer. Then she was headed here.” Tyrion said. His hands clenched into fists. “She... Joanna went to open the door, and Baelish cornered her out the front. She didn’t tell me what he said to her. She was terrified. But Brienne saw what was going on. She shoved Baelish away from Joanna, and told her to go and wait with Shireen in her trailer. Baelish... Baelish threatened Brienne. He promised her that if she interfered in his business again, she’d be sorry. He said he knew people in social services, that were not Mance Rayder, and that he could make sure Shireen was taken away from her. Brienne... she told him to go fuck himself, and that she wasn’t going to let him attack little girls.” Tyrion said.

“How... how do you know what was said between them?” Jaime asked.

“Joanna listened from the trailer door. She and Shireen heard the whole thing. After that, we never let the girls travel alone. Baelish is a coward. He’ll go after them alone, but he won’t if they’re all together.” Tyrion replied.

“What else? There’s more than that Tyrion. I can see it on your face.” Jaime said.

“Jaime...” Tyrion trailed off. That was when the trailer door flew open. A skinny, coltish looking girl stood there. Her long, soft looking hair was a pale blonde, reminiscent of Tyrion’s own hair. Her eyes were a bright green, just like the one of Tyrion’s eyes.

“Daddy?” The girl asked, looking at Jaime, not seeming to understand.

“It’s alright Joanna. This is my brother, your Uncle Jaime. I’ve told you about him before.” Tyrion said. The girl nodded. She looked young. Jaime thought she might have been twelve.

“Hi Joanna. How old are you?” Jaime asked her gently.

“Thirteen. I’ll be fourteen in May next year.” Joanna replied. She held a copy of _Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix_ , clutched to her chest, her arms crossed over it. Her eyes were wide as she looked at Jaime. “Daddy told me a lot about you. You’re a cop, right?” Joanna asked.

“I am. But I’m also your Uncle, so if you’re ever in trouble, you shouldn’t feel you can’t come to me.” Jaime said warmly. Joanna smiled widely.

“We don’t think all cops are bad. We just like to do things our own way Uncle Jaime. We... well... I’m not old enough, but circus people deliver their own justice. Most cops don’t care about circus people, or what happens to them.” Joanna said. Jaime could see that Joanna was bright and smiling and happy. That was something Jaime couldn’t remember being when he was a child.

“Well, as I said, if you ever get into any trouble, just ask for Detective Jaime Lannister.” Jaime told her gently. Joanna smiled and nodded.

“Joanna, sweetling, can you go across to Brienne for a little while?” Tyrion asked.

“You’re talking about Baelish aren’t you?” Joanna shot back. Tyrion frowned.

“Yes, we are.” Tyrion answered truthfully. Joanna looked at Jaime, her eyes focussed on his own.

“He was evil. He deserved it. Whatever happened to him, he deserved it.” Joanna stated firmly.

“Joanna.” Tyrion said warningly. Jaime couldn’t blame him.

“No. Daddy, he tried to rape Sansa! He harassed me, and Sansa, and Meera! He even harassed Ros and Shae, and the Martells. He tried to kill Brienne! He was a monster! He deserved to die!” Joanna shot out. Her cheeks flushed with anger, and her sweet face clouded with dark thoughts.

“What does she mean?” Jaime asked Tyrion. Tyrion sighed.

“I’ll tell you everything that I know Jaime.” Tyrion said. Then he looked at Joanna. “Please Joanna. I don’t want you to hear some of this. It’s not appropriate.” Tyrion said. Joanna made to open her mouth. “I know you’re not a baby, sweetling. You’re braver than I am. But this is not a conversation for any girl to hear. Some of the things I’m going to tell your uncle... I don’t think you’re ready for yet sweetling.” Tyrion added. Joanna walked over and knelt down beside her father and hugged him.

“Is it cool that I don’t mind being a baby, if it means you still get to be my Dad?” Joanna said softly. Jaime felt his heart melt at the interaction, though he knew he was not supposed to hear it. Joanna had kept her voice, almost to a whisper, but Jaime had good hearing. Tyrion hugged his daughter back.

“I think that no matter what Joanna, I will always be your father.” Tyrion uttered back. Joanna stood up, grabbed hold of her book, and left the trailer, leaving Jaime and Tyrion alone again.

“She’s a good kid.” Jaime said. Tyrion nodded.

“I can only take partial credit. Being a part of life here... Tysha used to say it takes a village to raise a child. It’s an old saying apparently. I had more help than I sometimes wanted, but Joanna wouldn’t be who she is, without all the people here. Brienne and her morals, Shae and her guts, the Martell girls and their stubbornness, even little Shireen and her kindness. It all helped.” Tyrion said. Jaime nodded.

“I know you don’t want to talk about all this Tyrion, but I get the feeling that if I asked anyone else I wouldn’t receive an answer.” Jaime said. Tyrion nodded.

“You wouldn’t. As Joanna said. We prefer to deal with shit ourselves. You could ask the men who murdered Brienne’s father, and gave her that scar. Although it would be rather hard to find them. I heard they were buried deep.” Tyrion replied.

“Brienne’s father?” Jaime was confused.

“When she was a kid, Tysha was a kid here too. A group of men attacked her father while he was out getting supplies. Brienne was with him. She couldn’t have been more than ten years old. Tysha said she overheard Olenna and Varys discussing it.” Tyrion said. Jaime was confused.

“Who?” Jaime asked.

“Olenna Tyrell, the proprietor of this establishment, and Varys is her second in command as it were. But apparently, from what they said, Brienne should have died then. She was just a little kid, and she was nearly beaten to death. She has a permanent scar up her side. They heard the police coming and one of them stuck a knife into her side and dragged it all the way up, cut her open, like an animal. It was luck that she survived. Olenna was her guardian after her father was killed. But there are rumours that the guys that attacked Brienne and her father, worked for Baelish. Selwyn Tarth was a man of principles. Tysha told me that Baelish has been trying to recruit girls from here since she could remember. Selwyn disagreed with this and fought back. He told Baelish he wasn’t welcome on the circus grounds, the law states that as long as they paid the rent, they could ask that he not come into their home without permission. Baelish didn’t like that. Not a week after that conversation, Selwyn Tarth was dead. There have been other incidences too.” Tyrion said.

“How many?” Jaime asked, thinking again to that pile of files on his desk.

“Selwyn Tarth was only the first. Tysha’s parents were killed too, one after the other, both in strange accidents during their acts. Tysha was killed during a rehearsal performance too. She’d never slipped before Jaime. She’s literally been on a trapeze from the moment she was able to. Her parents taught her. But she slipped during the last rehearsal before the show. The one where they practise without the net. It struck us all as odd, but the coroner, Roose Bolton, he ruled it an accidental death. It was the same with others. Daenerys’ husband, Drogo, he collapsed during a performance. Rhaego was only a year old. Heart attack. That’s what they said. Roose Bolton and his cronies at the coroner’s office. They said he died from natural causes. Tell me how a man as huge, muscled, strong and healthy as Drogo could collapse from a heart attack during a performance?” Tyrion asked. Jaime shook his head not understanding. “There was Ygritte, Ygritte Wildling, she was conveniently killed operating a ride that she knew inside out. She was crushed by faulty mechanisms. Then Renly Baratheon died during a rehearsal. Was hit in the head by a fallen piece of scenery. The last one was last year, Willas Tyrell, Olenna’s first born and eldest grandchild. He was bludgeoned to death in a robbery. But no one knows why anyone would have bothered. Willas was well known. He didn’t carry money or any items of value on him. He walked with a cane because of a leg injury when he was a child. So he purposely didn’t carry anything of worth because he always said he wouldn’t be able to get away from an attacker. You can find all of these files in your police station Jaime. So many people killed, all the evidence points to foul play, but the coroner rules it an accident, or inconclusive. The police never bothered to try and catch the killer. It’s a huge amount of prejudice against the circus people Jaime.” Tyrion said.

“You all think that he killed all of these people?” Jaime asked.

“Well, at least that he had something to do with it. Each one of them had an altercation with Baelish before they died.” Tyrion said sadly.

“Is that what Joanna meant when she said that Baelish almost killed Brienne?” Jaime asked. Tyrion shook his head.

“No. He... Baelish... tried to attack Sansa Stark. She’s a teenage girl with red hair. She’s not that much older than Joanna really. Brienne came across the scene and pulled Baelish off of her. She wasn’t expecting the man to attack her. He bashed her head against a rock, very nearly killed her, but Sansa had run to get her older brothers, and whoever was close by. We all came on the scene. He’d picked up a rock, and was about to cave her head in. But once there were so many of us to witness it, he threw the rock aside and stormed off.” Tyrion said. Jaime felt sick to his stomach. Brienne had been through so much. There was so much he didn’t know, but wished he did.

“Did none of you report it to the police?” Jaime asked.

“Do you think they would have cared? We’d already reported Baelish for other things and the police never bothered. He’s a rapist. Shae... my girlfriend... she told me that he had attacked her. She was just a teenager herself, and shortly after Selwyn was killed... he raped her. There were and are probably others Jaime. But Shae reported it to the police when it happened. Olenna took her. All the DNA samples were collected, her statement was taken, then the police just filed it away. Baelish didn’t even get pulled in for questioning. He has a lot of the police in his pocket. He... he stole money from the circus too. Willas had discovered missing money, and went to confront Baelish and never returned.” Tyrion told Jaime firmly. Jaime found himself deeply bothered by the idea that these people had been attacked and abandoned by the system that was supposed to protect them, because of bias against their lifestyles. It was cruel and harsh.

“I need to go and speak to Brienne.” Jaime said softly. Tyrion nodded.

“Jaime... you and Brienne... how involved are you?” Tyrion asked. Jaime blinked in confusion.

“I didn’t even know she had a child until today.” Jaime said. Tyrion nodded.

“That doesn’t surprise me Jaime. She’s had a bad run of luck. Most men treat her like she’s a form of entertainment. She’s probably trying to protect herself. It’s a natural instinct that we share. Cripples, bastards and broken things.” Tyrion said. Jaime nodded.

“I haven’t got any plans to hurt her and I don’t see her as entertainment.” Jaime stated. Tyrion nodded.

“Good.” Tyrion replied. “Why don’t you come back for the show tonight. Joanna will be pleased that her Uncle Jaime gets to see her in the magic show.” Tyrion added.

“Magic show?” Jaime asked. Tyrion grinned.

“Yeah. She loves to go on the stage and be Oberyn’s assistant. He treats her the same as he does his own daughters. I know she’s safe with him. It helps to know when your children are safe.” Tyrion said. That was when there was a knock at the trailer door. Joanna came in again, her eyes bright and wide.

“Daddy, I’m going to go and rehearse with Uncle Oberyn.” Joanna said. Jaime smiled at the look of joy on the girl’s face.

“And I shall be back to see you perform, if you like.” Jaime said. Joanna grinned at Jaime, a wide grin that reminded him of his own, and Tyrion’s.

“I’ll be happy for you to come and see the show Uncle Jaime.” Joanna said happily. She darted forward to give him a quick hug, then hugged her father tightly, and was off out of the trailer, leaving behind her copy of Harry Potter on a table. Jaime said his goodbyes to Tyrion and promised to be back for the show, before he walked across to Brienne’s trailer. Tyrion was left to sit and think about all the people who’d been loved and lost in the circus family, and hoped that all the trouble had finally ended with Baelish.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Jaime found himself knocking on Brienne’s door after a few moments. Brienne answered, and wordlessly allowed Jaime to enter her home. Jaime wasn’t surprised to see that the place was organised perfectly. There were three doors in the trailer. Two were open, and Jaime saw they led off to a small bathroom with a shower, and a bedroom that obviously belonged to Shireen.

“Would you like to sit down?” Brienne asked softly.

“Are we really going to start talking so formally Brienne?” Jaime asked.

“No. It’s just ingrained in me to be polite when someone enters my home.” Brienne replied. Jaime found himself grinning at Brienne, before taking a seat. He took note of how things were set up. Everything was so Brienne. It was weird.

“So? Anything you’d like to say?” Jaime asked. Brienne looked at Jaime curiously.

“Well... I certainly didn’t expect you to find out about who I am, quite like this.” Brienne said. Jaime and Brienne allowed themselves to laugh then.

“Well, you never lied to me, you just didn’t tell me. Should I be worried about a jealous husband coming to kill me in the night?” Jaime asked. Brienne scowled.

“I don’t have a husband. If I did, I’m not the type to cheat.” Brienne stated.

“I know.” Jaime said honestly. “But where’s Shireen’s father? I mean... I don’t... you don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.” Jaime said. Brienne shook her head.

“She doesn’t have one. I... I was taking a walk at one end of the Rush. I like to do that sometimes, it reminds me of the times my father would walk me along the edge and show me different fish. He refused to let us fish there though. He said the fish were probably poisoned by all the garbage that goes into the rush.” Brienne said. Jaime nodded.

“Tyrion... told me about your father... about his death...” Jaime trailed off. Brienne nodded.

“That’s alright. I... I don’t really like to talk about it. It was horrible. I like to think on the good memories I shared with my father. But it just so happened that one day, I saw a baby in the river, just about staying afloat in a Moses basket. I couldn’t leave a child to drown. So I jumped in and fished the baby out.” Brienne said softly.

“And that baby was Shireen?” Jaime asked.

“Yes. At first I thought someone would come looking for her. I... none of us... we don’t really trust the police Jaime. We have good reason not to.” Brienne said. Jaime nodded his understanding. If Tyrion was right, the police and been biased against the circus for years. “No one came looking for her. I thought someone would, her name was embroidered on the blanket she was wrapped in. But no one ever came looking for her. We never even heard reports of a missing infant. So... I knew someone had thrown that sweet, innocent baby in the river, hoping she’d drown. She was thrown out like garbage, probably because of the scarring on her face.” Brienne said softly. “I know what it’s like to be rejected because you don’t look like everyone else. So I kept her. No child should be abandoned. I adopted her officially, went through the right channels. A description of her and her blanket was put in the local papers across three states. No one contacted us, so my bid to adopt was accepted. I’m sure, as a cop, that you’ve seen how it works before. Mance helped out. He’s been a social worker for the circus for as long as I can remember. He was the one who confirmed that Olenna had legal guardianship of me after my father’s death. The local authorities wanted to take me into care. They didn’t believe my father’s will, didn’t want to listen. It would have killed me if I’d been taken away from the only family I’ve ever known.” Brienne explained. Jaime couldn’t imagine how that might feel.

“I heard that Baelish tried to kill you.” Jaime said seriously.

“He tried, he didn’t succeed.” Brienne replied.

“I’d fucking kill him just for that.” Jaime hissed. Brienne reached out, her hand against Jaime’s cheek, and he closed his eyes, leaning into the touch. He placed his own hand over hers, using his other to touch Brienne’s face. He opened his eyes to look at her. “I wish you’d told me about all this before.” Jaime said.

“I’ve seen it happen too many times Jaime. People looking at all of us like we’re freaks, or animals. Or ‘Cripples, bastards and broken things’ as your brother likes to put it. I... I had a boyfriend once... when Shireen was three... the first time I introduced him to her, he freaked out. He demanded to know how long we’d been infecting him with Greyscale, called us freaks and he was gone. After that, sitting up with Shireen, crying all night, asking what a freak was and why the man had been yelling so much... I know it’s not fair to tar you with the same brush Jaime. I just couldn’t... I couldn’t risk having Shireen hurt like that.” Brienne explained. Jaime leaned forward, pressing his lips against Brienne’s.

“If you’d taken the risk, you would’ve found that I am very different than the bastard who thought it was okay to do that to you and a child.” Jaime said, when his lips parted from hers. Brienne kissed him then. Jaime found himself being led towards the closed door. He assumed this was Brienne’s room, but he wasn’t paying much attention to the fact as clothing seemed to drop off of them in a trail to an unfamiliar bed. Jaime found himself pressed flush against her, naked as his nameday, and thought he could get used to this, before he claimed Brienne’s lips and lost all sense of coherent thought at the same time.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Jaime found himself with Tyrion, sitting at the side, keeping an eye on the circus children, as the tent filled with people, wanting to see the show. It was almost like providence, when Jaime spotted his father at the entrance of the tent, with two of his goons in tow. Jaime looked at Tyrion and gestured his head to let his little brother know what was going on.

“I’ll go and talk to him. I don’t want him to interrupt the show, besides, I’ll be back before it starts. I promised to be there for Joanna.” Jaime said.

“Yes, and I’m sure seeing Brienne is also a huge attraction.” Tyrion uttered back. Jaime snorted, wanting to shove his little brother like when they were children. That was when Shireen came running up.

“Detective Lannister!” She seemed so excited to see him. “I’m going to be helping Nym tonight in the show. It’s the first time I’ve ever been allowed to help during a real performance before!” Shireen said excitedly. She looked at Tyrion. “Do you think I’m ready Uncle Tyrion?” She asked. Tyrion smiled at the girl.

“Oh I think you’re more than ready Shireen. Just remember to do whatever Nym tells you.” Tyrion said. Shireen nodded vigorously. She looked at Jaime.

“Are you going to stay for the show Detective Lannister?” Shireen asked. Jaime grinned and ruffled Shireen’s straight hair.

“Yes I am.” Jaime told her. Shireen’s blue eyes shone as she smiled.

“I’m glad. I’ll see you later.” Shireen said happily. Then she was off. Jaime wanted to laugh, but caught sight of the ominous shadow of his father again.

“I’ll be back before the show starts Tyrion. I promised Joanna and now I’ve promised Shireen. I’d best go and see what our father wants.” Jaime said softly. Tyrion nodded, as he shushed some of the smaller children. Rhaego and Loreza came to sit down and Jaime saw them talking to Tyrion as he made his way to where his father was standing.

“Jaime.” Tywin Lannister stated.

“Father.” Jaime said back. “What do you want?” Jaime asked. They walked outside the tent. The goons followed. But Jaime knew they wouldn’t touch him.

“That is no way to speak to your father.” Tywin said. Jaime shook his head.

“You disowned me. Remember that? When I told you I’d made detective? You said you would not have a son who was a lackey. You disowned Tyrion too, for loving someone. You told him not to contact me or you’d disown me too. But you did it anyway. Why would you keep us apart? Why do that to your own sons?” Jaime asked angrily.

“I did what I thought was best.” Tywin replied.

“Best for who?” Jaime spat.

“For _whom_ , Jaime.” Tywin corrected. This made Jaime even more furious.

“What are you doing here father?” Jaime asked.

“I wanted to find out why you were here at this circus. I heard you arrived in the early afternoon, and that you hadn’t left. I’ve also heard about a rather tall woman, who works here at this circus, and has a child, but who regularly visits you at night, and doesn’t leave until the sun is rising. If you had to take a lover, why would you pick a circus performer? Isn’t it bad enough your brother picked a circus life over a life as a Lannister?” Tywin hissed.

“I don’t know how the hell you know about all of this, _father_ , or why you would bother to state it to me like I’ve committed a crime, but I don’t really care. At the moment, I made a promise to my niece that I would watch her in the show, and that is what I intend to do. If you really want an actual conversation with me, it will have to wait until afterwards.” Jaime stated firmly.

“Niece?” Tywin asked, looking dumbfounded.

“Uncle Jaime?” Both men turned to look at Joanna. She was wearing an outfit, befitting of a modest Magician’s assistant. A feather pinned in her hair, and a black mask over her eyes, which were ringed with kohl, giving her an even more mysterious look. “Daddy said the show is going to start in a minute. I thought I’d come and tell you.” Joanna said. She looked at Tywin curiously. “I don’t know you mister, but if you’re a friend of Uncle Jaime’s I’m sure Daddy wouldn’t mind you coming to sit with them to watch the show.” Joanna said. Tywin looked pale, and shocked.

“And your name is, child?” Tywin asked.

“Joanna. My name’s Joanna Lannister, after my grandma. Daddy said she died when he was just a little boy, and he doesn’t remember a lot about her, but he says I look like her, and he and my mother decided to call me Joanna. But my mother died when I was just a little baby.” Joanna replied.

“Well, Joanna, I shall come and see your show.” Tywin said. The friendly girl beamed and started leading the way. Jaime looked at his father.

“If you upset that kid, father, then I’ll be the one disowning you.” Jaime hissed under his breath. Tywin huffed a breath through his nose as the pair followed Joanna, to join Tyrion. Tyrion looked shocked to see their father sit beside Jaime. Joanna looked at Tyrion.

“He’s a friend of Uncle Jaime’s, Daddy. I told him to come and watch the show too.” Joanna said, explaining Tywin’s presence. Tyrion gave Joanna a weak smile.

“Alright sweetling, you go and give the performance of your life.” Tyrion told her. Joanna beamed, seemingly unaware of the discomfort between the three adult men, then ran off to go behind the stage.

It was only a few moments later when the big top was finally full, that the lights dimmed and the show began with a bald man, wearing silken robes, at the centre of the stage.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” He called out. His voice seemed rather girlish and Jaime found himself wondering if he’d misjudged a bald man, for a bald woman. “My name is Varys, your ringmaster for the evening’s festivities.” Varys stated. "Tonight you will see things to amaze and astound you. You will see the amazing acrobatics of Lady Ellaria and her lovely assistants, Ros, Shae, Bella, Sarella and Elia. You will see the lovely Khaleesi Daenerys Targaryen, and the Knight of Flowers, Loras Tyrell, as they perform feats of daring with horses, that no man, or even Dothraki, has ever attempted. You will gasp at the daring, delightful, Daredevil, Brienne the Blue, as she makes daring escapes that will leave your heart pounding. And you will see the marvellous magic of Oberyn the Red Viper, and his lovely assistant Joanna. You will be shocked by Tyene the snake charmer, and our knife throwing aficionado, the lovely, Lady Nym!” Varys exclaimed. There was applause and cheers from the audience as Varys spoke, listing various acts. Jaime was worried as soon as the words ‘daredevil’ and ‘daring escapes’ had been said in the same sentence as Brienne. But he knew that this was a show. Brienne was well used to this environment. This was her job. So Jaime sat back and watched the show.

The first act to come onto the stage was Daenerys and Loras Tyrell, with their horses. People were amazed as Daenerys managed to get her horses to jump through rings of fire, that most horses would shy away from. Loras and Daenerys even managed to jump through the same flaming hoop at different ends, at the same time, just barely brushing each other, and barely missing the flames. Daenerys, in traditional Dothraki garb, stood up on her powerful looking black horse, as a cream coloured one, and a dark grey one, that looked almost green under the shade of the green and gold tent, followed behind. Loras, wearing a cape made of flowers, and a pair of plain trousers and a white shirt, rode his own white horse, and stood on the horse’s back. He pulled a cluster of flowers from his cape and threw them into the audience. Teenage girls and young women, screamed alike, as they fought to grab hold of one blossom. Loras blew them kisses and merely pulled off another cluster of flowers and threw them out into the audience again. Loras rode around the round stage, sometimes flipping to stand on his hands, or on one hand, whilst pulling flowers from his cape, until all the flowers were gone. Then the audience seemed to notice that Daenerys had managed to work her own horses into a gallop. She stood on the back of her black stallion, and then, then she leaped into the air, somersaulting, and landing on her hands, back on the black horse. People were wide eyed and cheering as Daenerys performed this feat again, landing back on her feet, before she did a somersaulting black flip, spinning around in the air, a whirl of silver hair and Dothraki garb, and pale skin, as she landed on her feet on the back of the green horse. The audience were up on their feet cheering as Daenerys did it again, this time landing on her hands, on the cream coloured horse. Then she made her way back, somersaulting and flipping, to the black horse in front, amazing her audience. Jaime had to admit that it was an impressive feat, more impressive than Loras standing on one hand and throwing flowers into the audience with the other.

The next act was the acrobatic act. Ellaria and her assistants, Shae, Ros, Bella, Sarella and Elia, as Tyrion pointed them all out, came out onto the stage. Jaime found himself amazed as Sarella and Elia climbed up two high rope ladders. Jaime hadn’t even noticed them before, but figured they must have been unfurled after the horse act. Jaime also noticed a trio of trapezes. Also hanging firmly from the roof of the tent, somehow. He couldn’t see where the ropes were tied. He watched along with the audience as the two youngest members of the group flung themselves into the air, in a whirl of purple and orange, and grasped hold of a trapeze, each, with their knees. It was a strange moment when Jaime noticed that with their arms, the two girls, unfurled different coloured scarves. Red, blue, green, pink, purple, orange, white, yellow and so many more colours that it was dizzying, as the girls flipped themselves easily from trapeze to trapeze, unfurling scarves from somewhere. The audience gasped, as the two girls collided together on the middle trapeze. Sarella flipped her knees over the edge, and her hands grasped Elia’s own hands, as they swung together. Jaime watched as Sarella swung backwards and forwards, holding the weight of the younger Elia, until suddenly, at the apex of her swing backwards, she let go, and the audience gasped in horror, as Elia swung through the air. But cheered as Elia grabbed hold of the other trapeze, and made three circles, swinging around and around the trapeze, until she let go, and landed on a small platform that was just above one of the rope ladders. The audience erupted into applause, as Sarella made her way to the other side. Then, the two girls climbed down, and bowed, leaving the stage. Jaime watched then as Bella and Ros walked over into the middle of the coloured scarves, and Ellaria and Shae climbed the rope ladders to end up taking the places of Sarella and Elia on the little platforms. Ros grabbed hold of a red scarf and suddenly, everything was a blur, as she seemed to spin upwards into the sky, wrapping herself in the red scarf as she spun. Bella soon followed, having grabbed hold of a blue one. Their ascent up the scarves, which Jaime now knew to be silken ribbons, was a quick one. Then, from there they seemed to spin in tandem, like a perfectly choreographed dance, made for the air. Bella and Sarella, swung from one scarf to another, meeting in the middle and allowing themselves to spin around each other, letting their scarves become tied. In a whirl of green and yellow, the scarves began to twirl apart, spinning Bella and Ros, in a flurry of speed that Jaime wasn’t sure he could have handled if he were in the same position. When Bella and Ros reached the stage again, Ellaria and Shae grabbed onto scarves of their own, and started to twine themselves up in them, before untwining in perfect symmetry. Bella and Ros grabbed other scarves and joined their fellow performers in the sky, people were almost silent, watching the display of colour and acrobatics, as the four women spun themselves in and around the scarves, making perfectly symmetrical patterns. They seemed to be in sync, until Bella seemed to slip. There was a collective cry from audience members, until Bella grabbed hold of a scarf and spun herself upwards. Then the audience cheered and clapped with relief that the young woman wasn’t hurt. Sooner than Jaime thought, the display was over and the ladies left the stage to thundering applause.

The next one to come on to the stage was a dark haired girl with a quiver of arrows on her back, and a beautiful bow in one delicate hand. From beneath the stage, Jaime watched as targets appeared all around the stage. Jaime found himself worried as he watched, seeing the girl notch an arrow.

“That’s Meera Reed. She never misses Jaime. You don’t need to worry.” Tyrion whispered. Jaime watched as his brother was proved right. Meera fired arrows at targets, at complete random. She even pretended to miss a few times, but the arrows always hit high on a post, never low enough to catch even the tallest person who might have been standing up. She even notched three arrows to fire at targets, and managed to have each arrow hit a different target. The audience liked her as she gave a graceful bow. But then, the small targets disappeared under the stage, and a great wheel appeared centre stage. Jaime realised that a teenage boy was strapped to it. He watched as Meera pulled an apple out of a pocket in her costume, and stuck it in the boy’s mouth, then she spun the wheel. It started to spin, with the boy strapped to it. He looked straight ahead. Held no fear. Jaime heard Tyrion whisper that this was Jojen, Meera’s little brother. Jaime watched as Meera notched her first arrow. Everyone held their breaths as Meera loosed it and it flew, hitting the wheel just a hairsbreadth from where Jojen’s ear was. Another arrow flew through the air, and landed between Jojen’s spinning legs. The audience gasped as Meera fired more arrows, each landing so close to her little brother, that people were letting out gasps, worried she’d actually hit him. Then she got to her last arrow, which she notched and aimed. The audience gasped and cheered as the arrow hit the apple in Jojen’s mouth. As Meera stopped the wheel, to show that all the arrows were there, and the arrow in Jojen’s mouth, the audience clapped. Meera unstrapped Jojen and helped him down from the wheel. He pulled out the apple and then took a bite of it as he bowed to the audience, causing people to clap even more loudly. Meera and Jojen left the stage, and the wheel disappeared below it.

The next act to appear on stage was Tyene, the snake charmer. She smiled prettily at the audience and curtsied to them before she spoke earnestly.

“I would like to say that these will be real snakes I am using. I would ask that there be no sudden movements or noise. If I lose concentration, these snakes might very well kill me, or escape into the audience. But so long as I keep my concentration, you’re all perfectly safe.” Tyene announced. This caused a great hush to fall over the audience. Jaime watched on as a man and a woman brought eight baskets on stage and placed them in a circle around Tyene, who, in her black netted costume, looked almost half a snake herself. The audience watched in perfect silence as Tyene walked round in a circle, taking the lid off of each basket. Then, Tyene walked back to the centre of the stage. She pulled out a silver flute, and started to play a beautiful, haunting melody. The audience seemed almost mesmerised themselves, as eight, red cobras rose up out of the baskets. As Tyene carried on playing the haunting melody, the snakes appeared to sway in time to the music, and as the tune became more complicated, Jaime watched in almost abject horror, as the red cobras slithered their way over to Tyene. They hissed, and slithered in a circle around her. The audience watched as one started to slither up Tyene's body, coiling itself up, to sit on her head. A second curled around her left arm, a third on her right. All seemingly in her thrall, as Tyene played. A fourth made it’s way round her neck. A fifth made it’s way to drape across her shoulders, whilst a six curled around her stomach. The seventh and eighth snakes coiled around her legs. Tyene walked around the stage, still playing, allowing the audience to see the reptiles clinging to her, their heads out, facing the audience and hissing. Then the tune changed, and one by one, all the snakes, but the one on Tyene’s head, slithered off of her, uncoiled themselves, and returned to their baskets. The one on Tyene’s head remained perfectly still, as it’s brethren disappeared. Then the tune changed again, and the single cobra slithered it’s way down to drape across her shoulders, then curled itself around her right arm, as she played the flute with her left hand. As she walked around the stage, her arm outstretched, the red cobra hissed angrily at the audience, snapping forward, but always drawn backwards by the melody still issuing from Tyene’s flute. The audience were as still as death, as Tyene made her way back to the middle of the stage, and the cobra moved from her right arm, that was still outstretched, and as Tyene knelt on one knee, as though a supplicant before her queen, the snake curled around her left arm, as she still played. It coiled around and around, until it’s face was staring out at the audience, then it hissed, it’s hood extended menacingly. Then Tyene’s tune changed again, and the snake seemed to calm, before uncoiling itself from her arm, slithering down her body, even as she stood from the ground. Then it slithered off of her foot and back to the last empty basket. As she still played, she walked around and put the lids back on the baskets. She carried on playing, even as the same man and woman, who Tyrion had whispered to Jaime, were called Bronn and Osha, had taken the baskets away one by one. Finally, as the last basket left the big top, Tyene finally stopped playing and gave a curtsey to the audience, who again erupted in cheers.

After a short intermission, in which Tywin did not speak at all, the next act appeared. This act was much calmer. Lady Nym and her knives were as impressive as Meera and her arrows. Little Shireen came up with the wheel this time. She smiled at the audience and Jaime wondered if Brienne was watching this from somewhere. She probably was. She went to enough trouble to protect Shireen from mental harm, so she would do no less to protect her from physical harm. Jaime watched as Nym, Nymeria as Tyrion told Jaime, threw her knives. Each one making an outline around little Shireen. Finally, as the last part of the act happened, Nymeria threw her knife, and Jaime almost jumped out of his seat, to see it heading for Shireen’s head. Then Jaime realised, there was a large red apple tied above Shireen’s head with a bright red ribbon. The knife hit the apple, and split it in two, the pieces flying off the stage. The audience cheered and Nymeria helped Shireen down from the wheel, which then disappeared under the stage. Shireen curtsied and bowed as the audience cheered, and as she caught Jaime’s eyes she grinned and waved at him. He found himself waving back at the sweet little girl, even as she left the stage with Nymeria.

Jaime was amazed to see the next act. There were five direwolves running into the big top. They were large, Tyrion said they were all about five years old, except for the mother, that was Lyanna’s, her name was Winter, and she was older than the others, her coat a shaggy grey. Tyrion whispered the names of the Stark family as they came on stage. Lyanna, the head of the family, aunt to five children and mother to one son, and guardian of all. Robb, the eldest of the Stark children, Lyanna’s eldest nephew, Jon, Lyanna’s son, though his father was dead, but Tyrion said that was before he got there and no one spoke of it. Then there was Sansa, Lyanna’s eldest Niece and third born of the group, then Arya, the youngest daughter, but not the youngest child. He surreptitiously pointed out Bran, a young teen in a wheelchair, and Rickon, a sullen looking twelve year old, who sat in brooding silence, but brightened when his family waved at him. Jaime watched as the Starks had their direwolves seek out things that had been planted in the audience seats. One woman screamed as one of the direwolves came right up to her and pulled out a ball from under her seat. Another man looked about ready to piss his pants, as a direwolf leapt up beside him and pulled a hat from under his own seat. Jaime watched, as these great, wild creatures bowed down, handing their treasure over to their masters or mistresses. There was no tug of war, no argument, the direwolves obeyed completely. The audience watched in awe as the direwolves were ordered to open their mouths. Then each human member of the act suspended their heads, within the giant maws of their wild pets. The audience were astounded. They had never seen anything like this before. When they removed their heads, the direwolves closed their mouths obediently. Then, they had them go through some strange stunts, like jumping through flaming hoops, like the horses, and balancing on strange objects. At the end of the act, the Starks had their direwolves climb up, one on top of the other, as the Starks, themselves, climbed up to stand on the top, forming a pyramid, where the youngest, Arya, stood atop her sister, Sansa’s shoulders. Sansa, sat atop the shoulders of her brother and cousin, and Lyanna, was balancing precariously, almost lying across the back of a direwolf head and neck, her arms outstretched like a bird in flight. Again the audience cheered.

The next act was mostly fun for the children. Jaime found himself smiling at the idea of one day bringing his own children to watch a show like this. He even thought about the idea of bringing Myrcella and Tommen. Even if he would only ever be an uncle to them, he thought they still deserved to see the amazement of such a show. As he watched some men dressed as clowns, though he couldn’t tell who they might be with the heavy makeup on their faces. He found himself laughing as one of the clowns presented a daffodil to Tywin, before running off and balancing on a giant rubber ball. It was funny, and calming.

Of course, the next act was the magic show. Joanna acted like a proper little lady as she curtsied to the audience, holding one of Oberyn’s hands, as he bowed.

“My lovely young assistant, Joanna will now bring me the magic hat.” Oberyn stated. The audience looked like they were expecting a bunny to appear out of it, but that was not what happened. Oberyn said some words in another language, that Jaime did not know, and was told was High Valyrian, by Tyrion, a red cobra stood out of the hat, hissing and bearing it’s fangs at the audience. The audience were almost deadly silent, recalling what Tyene had said about the snakes before. Oberyn merely picked the snake up, and held it coiled in his hand, as it’s head snapped and hissed, still looking at the audience. Then Oberyn made the snake disappear again. Then he asked Joanna to step into a box, which he would saw in half. When Oberyn got to the middle Joanna screamed like she was actually being cut in half. Jaime felt a sense of panic for his niece then, But Tyrion merely gave Jaime a smile, and he knew it was just part of the show, and almost felt sorry for some of the people who were gasping in horror. When Oberyn moved the halved box apart, and Joanna grinned at the audience, the audience began to cheer. Then, of course, Oberyn ‘put Joanna back together’ and asked her to step into a glass booth. Joanna did as she was asked, and after a few spins of the box, it looked as though Joanna had completely disappeared. It was odd, even though Jaime knew there was a trick to it, he couldn’t figure out exactly what Oberyn had done, but assumed it was something to do with mirrors. Then Oberyn performed a variety of other tricks with Joanna, one being Oberyn, passing his hand through Joanna’s stomach, using a magical black portal. Once their act was over, Oberyn and Joanna took their bows, to the delight of the audience. Joanna looked over at him and her father and smiled even brighter, but not waving as Shireen had done.

“She’s a professional.” Jaime whispered to Tyrion. Tyrion nodded.

“She takes it very seriously. Now we’re going to have the last act for the evening.” Tyrion whispered back. Jaime watched as Oberyn and Joanna left the stage, then the lights went out. Some people gasped, as the whole tent went black. Then the lights went up on stage, and there was Brienne. She wore a blue bodysuit, but it didn’t cling and wasn’t sparkly. It did have various veiled holes, that made it look like Brienne was covered in water, however. Brienne’s long hair was tied into a high ponytail, arranged almost artfully to fall around her shoulders. Jaime noticed her costume never showed even a sliver of the scar she had down the right side of her body.

“Hi everyone!” Brienne called out. The audience cheered. “I have the honour of being the last act for this evening. I am about to perform a stunt that has not been performed in any other circus before. I am going to escape from being chained in a tank of water.” Brienne said. Jaime frowned. The audience didn’t seem to understand until Brienne stepped onto a square platform in the middle of the stage. That was when two young men came up to Brienne and chained her ankles together. Then her wrists were chained. A chain joined her wrist and ankle chains together, and then, the chain was locked onto the platform, which had then elevated up from the stage, to show that Brienne was, in fact, standing on a platform, above a full tank that was a foot taller than Brienne. “When the buzzer goes, the platform will be lowered into the water, and when it goes off again, I’ll be able to escape my chains.” Brienne explained to the audience. Jaime didn’t like this. It gave him goose bumps just thinking about it.

“She’s done it a million times before Jaime. She’ll be fine.” Tyrion assured in a whisper. Before Jaime could answer, the buzzer went off, and it seemed like an agonisingly slow wait until the platform finally reached the bottom of the tank. Brienne’s blonde hair floated around her face in the water, but she seemed calm, as the buzzer went off again. Jaime’s heart was pounding as he watched Brienne trying to unfasten the locks on the chains. She managed to get one wrist free. Then Jaime saw a confused look on her face as she tried to get the other wrist free. Then she went to work at her ankles, but seemed like she was unable to get them free as well. Jaime wanted to panic. “It’s just part of the show Jaime.” Tyrion whispered. Jaime didn’t think so. Something seemed wrong. Bubbles were escaping Brienne’s mouth in bursts, and then in great floods. Then she waved her free hand in a motion that looked like a knife slicing across her throat. Tyrion went rigid beside him, before he jumped up onto the stage. Jaime shot up to a standing position, as Tyrion made his way over at a run to the tank. Tyrion had made it the tank and yanked on a lever that seemed hidden at the side. Nothing happened. Tyrion looked panicked as he pushed the lever back up and yanked it back down again. Again, nothing happened. Bubbles of air, left Brienne’s mouth in a great burst, and Jaime saw the moment she looked at him, and seemed to be trying to breathe air into her lungs that didn’t exist, her mouth wide open, gasping into the water. Something had gone terribly wrong. Brienne was drowning, in front of an audience that had no idea that this was definitely not part of her daredevil act. Jaime was shaking as he jumped up onto the stage to help his little brother, praying it wasn’t too late to save her. He ran over and he and Tyrion tried the lever again. Again, it didn’t work. That was when Brienne’s eyes seemed to roll up into her head, and if it were possible, even more air escaped her lungs.

 _“Gods, don’t let her die.”_ Jaime thought as he desperately tried the lever again and again. Suddenly, a creak sounded from the tank, that Brienne now seemed to be floating in, but no longer struggling. The creak turned into a roar, as a pane of the glass cracked up the middle, and then fell out, knocking Tyrion to the ground, just barely missing Jaime. The water flooded out, leaving Brienne in a collapsed heap on the platform, still chained to it, as Jaime ran to Brienne’s side, pulled her into a sitting position and whacked her on the back a couple of times, until she started coughing up, what seemed like a ton of water. She was coughing and red faced, and barely catching her breath, but she was alive. Jaime hugged her, not caring that his clothes were getting soaked, and Brienne hugged him back, her arms wrapped around him, her hands tangled in his hair.

“Daddy!” Jaime heard Joanna scream. Jaime looked at Brienne, and though she was still coughing weakly, she waved him off to his brother. Jaime jumped down off of the stage, to see the Tyrion was hurt. His face a mass of blood and torn flesh, and Jaime felt a wave of horror pass over him, as he grabbed his mobile phone from his pocket and called for an ambulance. As he knelt by his brother’s side, and saw Joanna on the other side, sobbing hysterically, holding her father’s hand, Jaime prayed that Tyrion would live. He wrenched off his blazer, and then his shirt, leaving just a t-shirt on underneath. Then Jaime turned his shirt into a tourniquet to try and staunch the flow of blood that Tyrion was losing. After what felt like hours, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked see Brienne by his side, she’d been freed from the chains, and she looked half drowned, but she was alive. Jaime listened as he heard sirens. It was almost as though his ears had closed to everything around him. He now realised that the whole audience was in a panic, and there were police there performing crowd control tactics. Jaime just looked at his brother as paramedics finally arrived, putting him on a stretcher. All Jaime could do was pray. He prayed and prayed, even as he jumped into his car, Joanna, Brienne and Shireen in tow, that Tyrion would live. That was all he wanted now. Just for his brother to live.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...... what do you think? Did y'all like it? Too much of an evil cliffhanger at the end? LOL! Any comments, readers and kudos is much appreciated.


	3. Intermission Or Breakthrough?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, a huge thank you to everyone who commented, sent kudos or read this story so far. I hope that this chapter will not disappoint. (nods)

The Show Must Go On!

Chapter 3 – Intermission Or Breakthrough?

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

The rush to the hospital was almost a blur for Jaime. Tyrion’s girlfriend, Shae, had ridden in the ambulance with him. She insisted on Joanna not seeing her father covered in blood, at least any more than she already had done. The paramedics also wanted Brienne to go to the hospital to be looked over and she was reluctant. All Jaime could think was that something had gone terribly wrong. Of course, Jaime had no idea what his father was planning to do. He had merely looked at the scene, not moving, not speaking, just watching, like a spectre. For a few moments Jaime had wondered if Tywin was capable of setting this up. But then had thought better of it. Even Tywin Lannister would not be so foolish as to attempt to murder two people on a stage, in front of an audience. The fact one of those people was his dwarf son, was not something that Jaime thought an issue. Their arrival at the hospital had Brienne dragged off to be examined. Shireen and Joanna stayed with Jaime, both looking horrified. They sat in the waiting room, waiting for Brienne to return and for some news to be delivered about Tyrion. Shae was ushered into the waiting room after about thirty or forty minutes. She looked exhausted, and her face was pale. Jaime noted splashes of blood that were on her clothing and face and hands, where she’d obviously tried to stay by Tyrion’s side. Jaime noted there was blood on his own hands too, and knowing it was Tyrion’s blood made him feel sick to his stomach. Shae sat beside Joanna, who was still in shock. She hugged the teenage girl close and Jaime realised that she was still in her costume, aside from the mask, which she’d obviously taken off. Jaime found himself looking at Shae, then Joanna, and then Shireen on the other side of him. She was clutching his hand tightly, looking up at him with wide eyes.

“Was the panel supposed to break like that?” Jaime asked softly.

“Of course it wasn’t! It was the pressure of the water. The lever usually causes the panel to lift up, letting the water come out the bottom of the tank. We’ve tested it. The water usually drains in under a minute.” Shae replied.

“It’s true. The panel of glass has never split like that.” Joanna said softly.

“My Mum... do you think she’s okay?” Shireen asked, looking at Jaime, Shae and Joanna.

“She is alright Shireen. The doctors are just making sure that she’s alright. Doctors are fussy, you know that.” Shae told the girl. Shireen seemed to calm down. That was when Olenna arrived, a young brunette in tow, that Jaime assumed was her granddaughter Margaery. Joanna and Shireen ran up to the old woman like she was a beloved grandmother, both hugging her.

“It’s alright girls.” Olenna said to them gently, as they hugged her. The brunette looked at Shae.

“Is there any news Shae?” She asked. Shae shook her head.

“They wouldn’t let me stay with him any longer, they said I had to wait here.” Shae said, her eyes welling up, and Jaime could see that Shae truly cared for Tyrion. The brunette looked at Olenna.

“Grandma, I’m going to go and take these to Brienne. Hopefully they’ll have finished poking and prodding by now.” The brunette said, holding up a bag that Jaime assumed held some fresh clothing for Brienne. Olenna nodded.

“Alright Margaery. Hopefully she’ll be allowed to come and sit with us.” Olenna replied. Margaery nodded and left the waiting room, obviously to look for Brienne. Olenna looked at Jaime then.

“You should go and wash your hands. You too, girls.” Olenna said, looking at Joanna and Shae. Jaime knew that Olenna was right. He was sat there, his brother’s blood on his hands, and he felt like emptying everything he’d ever eaten in his life, onto the waiting room floor. He stood up and went to wash his hands, feeling strange as he watched the diluted crimson stream flowing down the plug hole. He tried not to think about it, even as he used the soap dispenser and washed his hands clean. He looked down at them, and all he could think was that washing his hands didn’t matter. He could still feel the dried blood on his hands. He could still see and feel the warmth of it, crisscrossing patterns over his skin, where he’d tried to stop Tyrion bleeding out. He went back to the waiting room to see Olenna was sat alone.

“Where...?” Jaime trailed off, thinking it was a stupid question.

“Shae and Joanna went to wash their hands and faces. Shireen went with them.” Olenna said. Jaime sat in his seat, which was directly across from Olenna.

“You obviously have something to say to me Ms Tyrell.” Jaime stated. Olenna smiled enigmatically at Jaime.

“You’re a sharp one Detective. I’m willing to speak to you, mainly for Brienne, who I raised since her father’s murder, as though she were one of my own. Also for Tyrion, who, since he became part of our little family, has always tried his best to help me. But this...... this today was someone trying to murder two members of my circus, who are my family, Detective Lannister, make no mistake. We don’t take kindly to people trying to murder our own.” Olenna said.

“Do you have any idea who might have killed Baelish?” Jaime asked.

“Not a clue, but it wouldn’t matter to me. As I’m sure Tyrion and Brienne have _both_ told you, Baelish was a monster. He hurt people without thought or feeling. He brought whatever happened to him on himself.” Olenna replied. Jaime nodded.

“I don’t doubt that. It doesn’t mean that I stop looking for the killer, no matter what a scumbag Baelish was.” Jaime replied. Olenna nodded.

“Of course. But as I said, the list is a long one. You’ll be taking centuries to go through all the people he hurt, and trying to work out who had a motive and who actually acted on their want to kill Baelish. Even sweet little Joanna and Shireen have motive to kill Baelish.” Olenna said.

“What makes you say that? They’re children.” Jaime asked. Olenna snorted.

“Children can be the best killers in the world. But in answer to your question, I’m sure that Tyrion told you about Baelish’s attempt on Joanna.” Olenna said. Jaime nodded. “Well, do you think she doesn’t know what he did to her mother? To her grandparents? We may never know for certain, Detective... but we know that they were all killed after disputes with Baelish. He threatened to have Shireen killed you know. He came to me and told me to keep Brienne out of his business or he’d hurt her in the worst possible way, he’d take away the thing she loved most. Shireen is Brienne’s daughter. Do you honestly think that Shireen doesn’t have motive? He told her about her adoption. Shireen came to me, confused, wanting to know why we’d all lied. It took me a while to explain to her that we hadn’t lied to her. Brienne was her mother. Brienne found her, cared for her, loved her. That is what a mother is. That is what a mother does. Is it not?” Olenna said.

“Does Brienne know that Shireen knows?” Jaime asked.

“No. Not yet. Shireen will tell her when she’s ready. She doesn’t want Brienne to treat her differently. No matter how many times I’ve told her that Brienne would never treat her differently, she doesn’t believe it. But I’m sure she’ll tell her mother when she feels more secure about the knowledge.” Olenna replied. Jaime nodded.

“I don’t know what to say Ms Tyrell. You’re placing a lot of trust in me, despite the fact that I could be the very man to put one of your people away for murder.” Jaime said. Olenna shook her head at Jaime.

“Do you truly think that only those of us who live in the circus had cause to kill Baelish? We’re not the only ones, not by a long stretch. Talk to his ‘employees’, Detective. His prostitutes will tell you stories that would make your skin crawl. For example, how one of them had tried to go to the police and tell them about what Baelish was doing to the girls there, even underage girls. But that girl picked the wrong cop to talk to. A week later she turned up. She was tied to a bedpost on the upper east side of Westeros. It’s a wealthy area to be sure. She was found with crossbow bolts in her stomach, chest, one caught in her hair, but pinned to the bedpost. Someone used that girl as target practise. Another girl... well... she had a baby. It apparently belonged to Robert Baratheon, our illustrious mayor, and if I’m correct, he’s married to your cousin.” Olenna said. Jaime didn’t answer. “Well, that girl and her baby daughter were murdered brutally. Stabbed to death. The baby was only a few months old. Look at the evidence and you tell me that my people are the only ones that had motive to kill Baelish.” Olenna stated. “And if it were one of my people? I would not turn them in Detective.” Olenna added. Jaime found himself blinking, looking at the old woman in shock. Without all the robes and strange hat that she wore as a costume during the shows, Olenna was a simple, frail old lady. But she had a cunning in her eyes that Jaime wasn’t quite sure belonged in a woman of Olenna’s years. “I shall tell you why. Baelish deserved to die, and we don’t turn on our own, Detective. That is a cardinal sin amongst us circus folk. We protect our own. I’m giving you trust, because for Brienne to trust you, you must be trustworthy. But that doesn’t mean that I would help you arrest one of my people.” Olenna finished. That was when the waiting room door opened and Margaery walked in, Brienne behind her in jeans and a t-shirt, looking paler than usual, but also seeming as well as could be expected. Jaime stood up and walked to Brienne’s side.

“Are you alright?” Jaime asked her gently. Brienne nodded.

“I was lucky. Another minute and I’d be dead. But the panel shouldn’t have split like that.” Brienne said softly. Jaime found his arms around Brienne, and her arms around him. Her head leaned down on his shoulder, and Jaime found one of his hands stroking her hair. That was when the waiting room door opened again and the people within, turned to look at the new interloper.

“Father?” Jaime was shocked to see his father there. Olenna and Margaery glared at Tywin openly. Brienne didn’t speak, still encircled in Jaime’s arms. Jaime didn’t let go of her.

“Jaime. Ms Tyrell, Miss Tyrell, Miss Tarth.” Tywin acknowledged the women, before looking at Jaime again. “I have spoken to the doctors. The glass of that panel sliced into your brother’s face. They’re trying to fix the mess. He needs blood.” Tywin said.

“Then I’ll be happy to give it.” Jaime said. Tywin sat in one of the chairs. That was when Jaime noticed that his father looked paler than usual. He also noted Tywin was not wearing his jacket, and that his shirt sleeves were rolled up. “You already donated blood?” Jaime asked, feeling confusion, as he noted the cotton swab that covered his father’s inner elbow, where they had obviously drawn blood.

“Tyrion and I are the same blood type, believe it or not.” Tywin replied.

“You haven’t given a damn about your son for over fifteen years.” Olenna said coolly. “What changed?” Olenna added.

“I found out I’ve missed out on all the years of my granddaughter’s life so far. I am not a sentimental man, but I do actually care about my family Ms Tyrell. I was angry with my son and I let it get out of hand. What’s done is done, I cannot change it, but maybe I can repair some of the damage.” Tywin replied. That was when the door opened again, and Shae came back in with Shireen and Joanna. Shireen ran up to her mother, hugging her around the waist. Brienne allowed an arm to unwrap from Jaime, as she stroked Shireen’s hair. Jaime let her go and she knelt beside Shireen, hugging her, and reassuring her that everything was alright. Jaime couldn’t help the half smile that came across his face at the sight. But then the thoughts and images of his brother, hurt and possibly dying, flooded his mind, as blood had flooded the ground in the big top, and Jaime found himself sitting on a chair. Joanna sat beside him, and Shae sat beside her. All of them were opposite Tywin of course. Olenna was sat two seats away from Tywin, and Margaery sat beside her grandmother. Brienne came to sit on the other side of Jaime, and Shireen sat on her lap. He felt less panicked when he felt Brienne’s hand take hold of his own. He looked at her to see her looking at him, comfort and reassurance in her gaze. Jaime allowed a half smile to escape him, trying to reassure Brienne that he was as okay as he could be. But every minute that passed without news about Tyrion, was another minute that tore into Jaime and caused more anxiety then he could ever remember feeling. Jaime just hoped his little brother would live.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

After what seemed like days later, but was merely hours, Jaime stood outside the entrance of the hospital, trying to think about what was happening to his brother, when he felt a hand on his arm. He looked to see Joanna.

“The doctor came back. We’re waiting for you Uncle Jaime.” Joanna said softly. Jaime walked back to the waiting room, Joanna’s arm linked through his. He opened the door to see the doctor standing there waiting patiently.

“Detective Lannister?” The doctor said. Jaime nodded. “I’m Doctor Qyburn. Your brother is out of surgery. He was very lucky. If that glass had gone in deeper, he would be dead. As it is, the angle nearly took off his nose. It took a lot of effort to stitch his face back together, and he will probably have a scar for the rest of his life. But he is alive, and barring any complications, he should be able to leave the hospital in a week.” The doctor said. Tywin stood up and shook the doctor’s hand.

“Thank you doctor. Is he awake?” Tywin asked.

“No. He won’t be awake until tomorrow lunchtime at the earliest. I suggest you all go home, get some rest and come back in the morning.” Qyburn said. Joanna looked up fearfully at Jaime.

“Do you mind if we just look in on him before we go? His daughter needs to see he’s alright and to be honest, so do I.” Jaime said. Qyburn looked at the group and nodded.

“Of course, but only for a few minutes. He’s not conscious and he needs rest. So do the rest of you.” Qyburn replied. Joanna took hold of Jaime’s hand and the group followed the doctor to a room, where the small form of Tyrion was lying in a hospital bed. He looked so small and fragile to Jaime. He was covered up, but for one arm, in which a drip was pumping fluids and pain meds into his body. His face was heavily bandaged and if Jaime hadn’t known it was Tyrion, he might have missed him. Only his mouth was visible under the bandaging at the moment. It could’ve been because of how dark it was in the room, but Jaime was bothered by how he could barely see anything that made up his little brother.

“Is he going to be alright Shae? Uncle Jaime?” Joanna asked.

“He’s strong, Joanna. He’ll be fine. He’ll be home before you know it.” Shae told Joanna firmly. Her own eyes were watery with tears she refused to shed. Jaime squeezed Joanna’s hand to reassure her. Tywin still looked ashen. Brienne, Margaery and Olenna were all very serious, whilst Shireen grasped Brienne’s hand like a lifeline, as she looked at Tyrion.

“Someone wanted to hurt him, or you Mum. Why would the glass split like that? Why did the lever not work? It gets tested before every performance, doesn’t it?” Shireen asked softly. Brienne squeezed Shireen’s hand.

“I don’t know sweetheart. I don’t know why this happened, but I’m sure that we’ll find out.” Brienne told her daughter. That was when the group were ushered out by a nurse and they all had to leave.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Tywin had offered for Joanna to come and stay with him, but Joanna wouldn’t. She didn’t know Tywin, and was far happier staying in her trailer with Shae, and with Brienne across the way. So Jaime had Brienne, Joanna and Shireen in his car. He had a feeling that Shae decided to ride back to the circus with Olenna and Margaery, so that she could pour out some of her grief before facing the teenage girl. It was very late, or early, depending on how you looked at it. It was three in the morning, and Jaime noticed that Joanna and Shireen seemed to be asleep in the back seat.

“I’m glad it’s Friday. Shireen would never get up for school.” Brienne said.

“I’m just glad that you’re alright, that my brother will be alright. I felt so fucking useless. I couldn’t help you, or him.” Jaime said. He felt Brienne’s hand over his on the gear stick.

“Don’t do that to yourself Jaime. You did what you could. You may well have saved Tyrion’s life. I take on risks as a part of my act. I’ll be fine. You should be more worried about Tyrion.” Brienne said.

“Don’t make out like what happened tonight didn’t affect you Brienne. Don’t make out like it was nothing.” Jaime shot back.

“It seems you’ve gotten to know me better than I expected you to.” Brienne said back. She looked at the two sleeping girls, then she looked at Jaime. “You need some sleep Jaime.” Brienne added.

“Do you really think I’ll go home after this? That I’ll be able to sleep? I doubt it, not until I find out who did this.” Jaime said.

“I wasn’t talking about you going home.” Brienne said. Jaime blinked a few times, and looked carefully at Brienne. She seemed anxious, as though she wasn’t sure whether she was doing the right thing. But in Jaime’s mind, he’d have to prove it to her. He nodded his understanding, as they pulled into the lot, where cars parked by the Big Top. Jaime picked up Joanna, trying not to wake her. She mumbled and wrapped her arms around Jaime’s neck, and was soon asleep on his shoulder. Brienne picked up Shireen with ease. The younger girl already had her arms curled around her mother. They made their way to the trailers, and after putting both girls to bed, Shae was in Tyrion’s trailer, waiting for them, and easily started taking off Joanna’s shoes, whilst Jaime grabbed a blanket and covered her with it. Jaime found himself lying beside Brienne in her bed, with her wrapped in his embrace. In his head, he knew he shouldn’t be allowing himself to be so involved. Brienne could be a suspect for all he knew, but he was already involved, and there was no way he could have left her tonight after nearly losing her and his brother.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

“Jaime!” Jaime walked into the big top, to see another one of the Crime Scene Investigation team looking at the tank and the glass. He knew this particular doctor very well.

“You got something for me Lyle?” Jaime asked. The man nodded.

“Yeah, this was all rigged to blow how it did.” Lyle said. Doctor Lyle Crakehall had been at school with Jaime and Addam, when they were all children. So Jaime knew when he was lying and when he was telling the truth. He knew Doctor Connington well also. In their line of work, it paid off to know the Crime Scene Investigation squad. Doctor Connington was far more formal. He didn’t allow informality whilst he was working. But he was a good man, and dedicated to his job. Lyle, was also good at his job, but Lyle took a less formal approach with Jaime, as they basically grew up together.

“What do you mean, rigged?” Jaime asked. Lyle inclined his head, gesturing for Jaime to follow him. Then he showed Jaime the lever. The same lever that _he_ , himself had forcefully yanked up and down a few times to try and make it work.

“This lever is usually designed to make the panel of glass rise a few inches, letting the water out. But it was rigged to backfire. Every test I’ve run since we got here last night says the same thing. The locks on the chains had glue and tissue stuffed inside. Even Houdini wasn’t gonna get those locks open. Once you stuff the keyholes with tissue paper and glue, it dries in like cement, and cold water will only make it harder. So when someone ran to open that panel, to save... uh... Miss Tarth? Yeah, Miss Tarth. When someone ran on to the stage to open the panel, it would have failed. It was rigged to fail. A few good pumps of the lever, was designed to cause the pressure of the snap spring to break the panel of glass. But you were the one to yank on the lever, right?” Lyle asked. Jaime nodded. Lyle sighed. “Well, our doer wasn’t expecting it to be you. The force you used, was too much. The glass panel was rigged to fall out, but whoever rigged it wasn’t expecting you to run on the stage to help. They were probably expecting your brother. Due to his... stature, and how much effort it would take for him to yank the lever down a few times, the panel would have fallen out in one piece, on top of him. With the rush of the water, on top of the solid panel, your brother would have been dead. He’d have been unable to breath under the weight of all that water and the glass. Miss Tarth also wasn’t supposed to make it out of the tank. You see, by the time your brother would have managed to yank the lever down a few times, she would have already drowned.” Lyle told Jaime. Jaime felt sick. Someone had purposely targeted Brienne and Tyrion.

“Have you found any DNA on the tank? Anything that could lead us to this nutcase?” Jaime asked. Lyle shook his head.

“No. Whoever did this was methodical about cleaning up after themselves. I haven’t found a fucking thing.” Lyle replied. Jaime found himself angry as he decided to try and find Olenna and ask her who might have access to the tent and equipment, and who knew the routines that well, so as to plan this out. This was becoming more complicated than Jaime could’ve imagined. Jaime left the big top and the first person he saw was Margaery.

“I need to ask you a question Margaery and I need an honest answer.” Jaime said. Margaery leaned against the ticket booth beside the tent, a lazy smirk draped across her face.

“It really depends on the question... detective.” Margaery replied.

“Is my brother usually the one who would have pulled that lever? If Brienne had gotten stuck, is that something my brother would do normally?” Jaime asked. Margaery blinked.

“Well... yes. He doesn’t perform. I can’t blame him either. People mock dwarves enough without him adding to it by dressing up like a twit and performing. That’s his opinion, not mine by the way, detective. But he knows where the levers are. None of us are supposed to be on stage during Brienne’s routine. Tyrion is closest, so he would go on stage and pull the lever. We test run everything. The lever is supposed to be straight forward.” Margaery replied.

“And who puts the tank together? Who has knowledge of how it works?” Jaime asked. Margaery frowned.

“Well, Tyrion knows where the lever is. But... well there’s... well... the only ones who put the tank together are Gendry and Ramsay. But Gendry loves Brienne, like a sister, she stopped him getting beat up by a group of bigger boys and he and his sisters were running around homeless, sleeping in car wrecks in the junk yard. Brienne brought them here. Gendry would never hurt her or Tyrion.” Margaery said softly.

“And this... Ramsay? Does he have a second name?” Jaime asked.

“Uhm... Snow. Ramsay Snow. But he’s not... he’s not a regular here. He’s just... he’s just a kid that Davos teaches about machinery. I don’t know much about him really.” Margaery replied. Jaime nodded.

“I’m going to need to talk to Gendry and this Ramsay. Are they here?” Jaime asked. Margaery shook her head.

“Ramsay lives with his mother. She... she’s... well to put it nicely, she used to be one of Baelish’s prostitutes. I don’t know where they live. I don’t know very much. I’m sorry detective. Gendry is out with Davos, trying to find a new glass panel to fix the tank. Gendry designed the mechanism’s but... he wouldn’t ever hurt Brienne or Tyrion.” Margaery reiterated. Jaime nodded.

“I’ll be back later to talk to Gendry. If you see Ramsay, don’t tell him that I’m looking for him. If he did do this, he might run.” Jaime said. Margaery frowned, but nodded.

“If he did this, he won’t get very far, even if he did run.” Margaery replied. Jaime left the circus, hoping that there would be more news for him at the police station.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Jaime was finally sat in front of his desk to look at the files Addam had given him yesterday afternoon. The names were in bold on the front as Jaime read them. He knew what Tyrion had said, about the deaths being ruled as accidents, or simply not investigated at all. Things started adding up for Jaime as he read the files, he could see that Tyrion was right as he looked at the earliest case to the latest. The first had a picture of a dark haired, dark eyed man. He looked broad and strong. Jaime could see laugh lines around his eyes. _“Tarth, Selwyn.... forty two years old... stabbed to death near the Blackwater Rush... unsolved...”_ Jaime read through and certain things popped out at him. He looked at the next file, a blonde haired child, freckles covering her face, Jaime felt his heart stop for a moment.

 _“Tarth, Brienne... severely injured after an assault on her and her father by the Blackwater Rush. DNA samples found under her nails... too damaged to reconstruct a DNA profile... unsolved...”_ The next file was dated just under a year later. Another male, this time with a lighter shade of brown hair. He seemed like he still had so much left ahead of him.

 _“Crofter, William... killed during a stunt on the trapeze... fell to his death after the trapeze bolts weren’t fastened properly... accidental death...”_ Jaime found it odd, just as Tyrion said, that this should have been ruled an accidental death. The next file, held a picture of a pretty, blonde woman in it.

 _“Crofter, Ellen... killed after the trapeze fell apart underneath her... accidental death.”_ Jaime shook his head, feeling like he was forming cobwebs in his mind that needed to be cleared. The next file contained a picture of Tysha. She’d had brown hair, like her father and her smiling face made Jaime sad, as he read the information.

 _“Lannister, Tysha. Acrobatics expert... with the circus from childhood... slipped from the trapeze during rehearsals... killed on impact with the ground because they were practising without the net... accidental death.”_ Jaime thought this was too odd, as he went on to study the next case file. He realised after a few moments that it was Shae.

 _“Lorathene, Shae... Reported rape... says assailant was Petyr Baelish... not enough physical evidence to prosecute.”_ Jaime frowned. As the same name kept popping up. He looked at the next file. A red haired teenager stared at him. She looked familiar. He read her name.

 _“Winters, Ros... She was part of the acrobatic show.”_ Jaime thought, as he read the case file. _“Attacked by a group of men on her way home from school... no physical DNA evidence found...”_ Jaime glared. Someone had let this case go cold. Again, the same names were popping up as Jaime read through the file. A fierce looking, Dothraki male, stared at him from the profile picture placed in the file.

 _“Drogo, Khal. Died during a performance... tox screen clear but he collapsed on stage... they assumed his heart gave out? Not a chance. That guy looks like he could out lift most of the police department with muscle mass. There is no way a guy that strong and healthy, who performed that act every day, had a heart attack and died on stage.”_ Jaime thought as he read the file. Then he looked at the next file.

 _“Baratheon, Renly. He was injured during a stunt at the circus. Died in hospital after complications... his heart gave out? No fucking way! He may not have had Drogo’s muscle mass, but he was young and healthy. What the fuck is this bullshit?”_ Jaime thought. People being attacked, dying randomly during performances or shortly after an injury, these were not normal circumstances. _“Does no one give a shit what happened to these people?”_ Jaime thought to himself. Then he looked at the next file.

 _“Wildling, Ygritte... ride operator... crushed to death by a faulty rollercoaster car... rolled down and crushed her, nearly tearing her in half... That’s just too much of a coincidence. She surely knew what was going on. How did she manage to get killed by a faulty rollercoaster car?”_ Jaime thought as he read. Then he looked at the last file.

 _“Tyrell, Willas. Bludgeoned over the head in the alley behind the Kneeling Man pub... died in hospital from sustained injuries... possible mugging gone wrong... assailant never caught... unsolved.”_ Jaime shook his head, not sure he understood what was happening. Each report had the same names attached to it. Each file had a comment about the victim having some sort of altercation or argument with Petyr Baelish. Each file was signed off by an older cop called Janos Slynt. Each coroner’s report was signed by Roose Bolton. No one else had looked at any of the files. Jaime found himself clenching his fists, wondering if there were others who had been hurt and had never reported the crimes, like Joanna, who’d been lucky that Brienne was around. It made Jaime feel sick inside. He looked at the files, then realised what he had to do. He needed to have the evidence reinvestigated. To do that, he needed to get it past Chief Selmy, or go over his head.

“Detective Lannister?” Jaime looked at Doctor Jon Connington. He had a file with him. “The autopsy report and crime scene stats. Detective Marbrand isn’t here. Apparently, Baelish owned a lot of brothels. He’s been tramping the streets since he left with Peck yesterday.” Connington said. Jaime nodded.

“Is there anything interesting that I should know?” Jaime asked.

“A few interesting things actually. Obviously, the Rush was a dumpsite. Baelish wasn’t killed there. Baelish was hit by a car before he died, but the car didn’t kill him. He had some scraps of blue paint stuck in wounds that he received from the car hitting him. He was hit dead on. The amount of alcohol in his system would suggest he’d been drinking heavily, and probably saw the car, but his reflexes weren’t fast enough to jump out of the way. The car would have to have been quite large. A jeep or people carrier. The injuries were caused to the fronts of his thighs, by a bumper.” Connington explained.

“But if the car didn’t kill him, what did?” Jaime asked.

“I’m glad you asked.” Connington stated, opening the file to a photo of the right side of Baelish’s face. Connington pointed out a rather large, bloodless wound. “He was stabbed repeatedly in the carotid artery. There was more than one assailant in this. The person who hit Baelish with the car, hit him, got out, and kicked him in the ribs a few times, but didn’t have enough force to break them, despite the bruising, which shows whoever kicked Baelish did so as hard as they could. There was a DNA profile under Baelish’s nails. In fact there were two. One under his left hand nails, and one under his right. It may be that the DNA under his right hand nails, might have come from his killer. He tried to defend himself possibly. But the person who ran him over wasn’t likely to be his killer. They didn’t have enough force to break any of his ribs when they kicked him. To get a knife through the cartilage of the neck, and leave that kind of damage needed great anger and great strength. Which your hit and run driver wouldn’t seem to have.” Connington explained.

“What makes you think that the driver of the car that hit Baelish, was the same person who kicked him?” Jaime asked.

“Some flakes of their shoe was left on Baelish’s shirt. Stuck to it with some car oil. It might be a large leap, but it’s not unlikely. Also, the shoes were trainers, pretty old and worn I’d say, for the soles to flake like that. But the killer... I’d estimate the killer was much stronger than our hit and run driver. The damage left behind in the stab wounds to Baelish’s neck, show that this person had a great deal of force behind their hands. Also, there was some residue, that proved to be glue, tissue and some mechanic oil, that was found in Baelish’s neck wound.” Connington added. Jaime frowned.

“Oil? Like a car?” Jaime asked.

“No Detective. This wasn’t car oil. This is the kind of oil you use to make the joints on machines move easier. The kind of oil you use on levers and such. Like hydraulic oil.” Connington replied. Jaime frowned, not sure whether he was happy or sad at this new development. “Also detective, Baelish was hit by the car at around eleven forty five pm. He died at around midnight. The person who hit him with the car obviously wasn’t intending to kill him, but wasn’t going to offer him help. They must have driven off, after kicking him a few times for good measure, leaving the bruises, which judging by the size and colouring of them, were issued at around eleven fifty. Then the killer came out from somewhere close by, obviously having seen what happened, and stabbed him in the neck. He’d have been dead in minutes. So estimated time of death is about midnight, maybe just before. So you need to find out where all your suspects were at that time.” Connington added. Jaime looked at the report in his hands again, and he knew he could breathe a sigh of relief for at least one person. Brienne had been with him from about eleven o clock, the night Baelish died. So it couldn’t have been her. But how many more did that leave to rule out? He looked at Connington for a few moments.

“Doctor Connington, I’d like to ask a favour of you.” Jaime said. Connington looked at him, curiosity shone in his eyes.

“And what might that be?” Connington asked. Jaime picked up the pile of folders Addam had dumped on his desk, having gone through them all.

“These cases... seem remarkably uncared for. Evidence that I can’t access isn’t here. But you have access to all the forensic files that I don’t.” Jaime said. Connington narrowed his eyes as he picked up the file on top. Connington frowned as he looked through it.

“Doctor Bolton is a colleague. By looking into this, I’d be saying I didn’t think he’d done his job properly.” Connington said.

“I’m not asking for you to do it in an official capacity. Something stinks with all those files. You’re a man of principles. You surely know that something is wrong.” Jaime replied. Connington took a deep breath, then nodded.

“I’ll take a look. If I find anything of worth, I’ll tell you, Detective. Mainly I’m doing this, because it gives me great pleasure to clean up after a mess that Bolton helped to create.” Connington replied. “I’ll just call my nephew Aegon. Let him know I’m going to be late.” Connington said. Jaime nodded.

“Thank you Doctor Connington. These people deserve justice, the same as anyone else.” Jaime said. Connington nodded,

“Of course. It just means I’ll pick my nephew up after his Hockey practise. We’ll probably go and get some pizza. I usually cook, but late nights mean pizza. He likes pizza.” Connington said. Jaime nodded his understanding and then Connington walked off. Jaime wondered if he had done the right thing. But he quashed the thought as he looked at how late it now was. He wanted to go and see Tyrion at the hospital, and he wanted to check in with Addam to see if he had anything interesting to relate about his trek to every brothel in King’s Landing.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Jaime was relieved when he went to see Tyrion, and saw that his brother was alive, talking, and as well as could be expected. Jaime had also been surprised to see his father there. Tywin and Tyrion were trying to make peace at last, after fifteen years of war. It made Jaime feel that at least _something_ had come out of all this mess and madness.

“You look like shit, big brother.” Tyrion stated warmly, as Jaime walked in.

“You don’t look so hot yourself, little brother.” Jaime shot back. Joanna was there, sat on the other side of her father, with Shae.

“I’ve been told that the tank was rigged up to kill me and Brienne.” Tyrion said. Jaime looked at Shae.

“News gets around fast in a circus camp. Your forensic friend should know better than to shout things out for us to hear.” Shae said. Jaime nodded.

“Someone who knew how to work the tank and how to change it’s mechanisms. Someone that has a problem with both of you, or hates one of you so much they’re willing to kill the other one to get you.” Jaime said. Tyrion shook his head.

“The only one that I know of, that had a problem with both Brienne and myself, was Baelish. He’s dead. He can’t do anything from the other side.” Tyrion said. Joanna snorted.

“What my father meant to say, but didn’t because of my ‘delicate sensitivities’ is that Baelish is hardly going to get off of the slab in the morgue and set up a rigged booby trap to kill two people. Even if he had the knowledge. Which he doesn’t.” Joanna said. Jaime and Tyrion both rolled their eyes. Tyrion was still heavily bandaged, but at least, in the light, Jaime could see his hair, his eyes, his chin. He could speak to Tyrion and know that his brother was still alive.

“Would you all mind terribly if I spoke to Jaime alone for a few moments?” Tyrion asked. Joanna and Shae looked at each other and stood up. Joanna looked at Tywin.

“Grandfather, maybe you’d like to come and have a cup of tea with us.” Joanna said. Jaime looked at Tyrion, who shrugged. He’d obviously told Joanna that Tywin was her grandfather. Tywin placed a hand on Joanna’s shoulder and the trio left the room. Tyrion looked at Jaime carefully.

“The doctors and paramedics say that if it wasn’t for you, then I’d be dead. I’d have lost too much blood, and I would have probably arrested in the dirt of the big top, with my daughter watching.” Tyrion said.

“If I hadn’t yanked the lever the way I did, the glass wouldn’t have split.” Jaime replied.

“Shae told me what was said, you know. Apparently, Margaery was listening outside. That sounds like her. If you hadn’t done what you did, both Brienne and I would be dead. Joanna and Shireen would have been orphaned. I’d have been crushed to death, smothered by that heavy panel of glass. Brienne would have drowned before that could happen. You saved both our lives Jaime. I may have a scar, but I’m alive. I get to see my daughter grow up, I get to spend whatever time I have with the people I love. Which includes you, you idiot. Thank you Jaime.” Tyrion said. Jaime shook his head in amazement.

“Only you, could insult your own brother, whilst trying to thank him.” Jaime replied. Tyrion allowed a laugh to escape him. But he winced. “You’re still in pain?” Jaime asked.

“Well yes. They had to practically staple my face together. But once I heal up, all laughing shall commence as usual.” Tyrion replied. Jaime nodded. “Jaime?” Tyrion questioned. Jaime waited for Tyrion to carry on. “You need to catch whoever is doing this. I don’t care about Baelish. I really don’t. He can rot for all I care. But someone obviously has a grudge with the circus. Someone is willing to kill, to grind an axe. I don’t know who. It’s weird. We all know each other pretty well. But...” Tyrion trailed off. Jaime understood. It was situations like these that made people turn on each other. It was situations like these that forced you to think on who you knew, and how well you knew them. Jaime nodded.

“I’m going to do my best Tyrion. I’m... I’m having someone in the coroner’s office, look into all these mysterious unsolved cases and supposed accidental deaths, at the circus.” Jaime said. Tyrion smiled then. Jaime could barely see it, but he could tell from the twinkle in Tyrion’s eyes that he was smiling.

“Good. Maybe more than one murder will be solved by the time this is over.” Tyrion said. Jaime said his goodbyes and left, wanting to catch Addam at the station, before he went to check on Brienne. He’d called her earlier on his break. Brienne had answered, told him she was fine, that there would be no show tonight, after Tyrion’s horrible injury and their near deaths. Olenna was afraid that someone else might get hurt. Jaime hadn’t been able to blame the old woman. So Jaime headed towards the station. He was going to talk to Addam, so they could compare notes, and then, he was going to go back to the circus, talk to Gendry, and this Ramsay, hopefully, then he was going to go and be with Brienne. He felt antsy after being away from her all day. After what happened last night, Jaime wanted to keep her safe. But without catching the killer that was never going to happen.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

“Jaime!” Jaime had just pulled into the parking lot, when Addam came running up to the car. A young boy with white hair and violet eyes, that reminded him a great deal of Daenerys Targaryen, followed behind him.

“What’s wrong?” Jaime asked.

“I’m Aegon. My uncle is Doctor Jon Connington. He told me he was going to be late, so he’d pick me up after Hockey practise, and we’d go and get some pizza or something. But he never showed. I tried to call him, but he didn’t answer. Usually that means he’s in the police station. So I walked here. But he’s not here.” Aegon said. He looked fearful, and Jaime couldn’t blame the boy.

“Get in! You too Addam.” Jaime said. Addam blinked. “Come on. We need to go to the Coroner’s office, quickly.” Jaime said. He had a bad feeling about all of this. Addam and Aegon got into Jaime’s car, and Jaime found himself careening off at a speed he probably shouldn’t have been doing. But something did not sit right with him. Something was wrong and Jaime needed to know what it was.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

When they pulled up outside the Coroner’s office, Jaime felt shivers go up and down his spine. He knew something was wrong. The doors were open, the lights were out. The security keypad was broken open, but the alarms were not going off.

“Addam, call for back up.” Jaime said. Then he looked at Aegon, who had gotten out of the car. “Stay here kid.” Jaime said.

“No fucking way Detective. With all due respect, my uncle is in there. This is my uncle we’re talking about. There is no way I’m going to sit here and do nothing, while you two go in and possibly face down death for him.” Aegon stated.

“Something’s happened at the coroner’s office, we need back up.” Jaime heard Addam on his phone. “Yes Chief, this is serious. The security pad is busted, but the alarms aren’t going off. We know for a fact that Doctor Connington is supposed to be in there, and no one can get hold of him.” Addam added. Jaime heard some gruff reply, before Addam hung up. “Back up’s on the way Jaime.” Addam said. He looked at Aegon. “You have to stay here kid. If there is some dangerous lunatic in there, your uncle wouldn’t want you involved.” Addam told the teen. Aegon didn’t look too pleased, but got back in the car, gripping his phone tightly, and Jaime could see the lock screen had a picture of him with Doctor Connington. They were obviously very close. Jaime looked at Addam, both of them walked over to the open doors of the building. Jaime pulled out his gun, whilst Addam pulled out his own. They walked into the building, making sure their guns were in front of them, poised, ready for action, ready for an assailant. What they found, was deathly silence. As the two cops crept down the hallway, they stopped, close to the end, near the lifts. There was a trail of blood, leading to the lift doors. Jaime held his gun steady in one hand, as he pulled out a pair of white, forensic gloves that he kept for when he needed them, which was now. He didn’t want to destroy any evidence, but he had a bad feeling that he knew what he was going to see. With one of the white gloves on, Jaime pressed the call button on the lift. He heard the lift coming up from the basement, and he and Addam both braced themselves. Anything could be ready to come out of the lift. But when the doors opened, both Jaime and Addam were horrified to see that there was no assailant, just a victim.

Doctor Jon Connington was pinned to the back wall of the lift. His blood was everywhere. His hands and feet appeared to be nailed to the back wall with industrial nails, from a builder’s nail gun. Addam was taking deep breaths through his mouth and out his nose, a technique that Jaime himself had used on many occasions to stave off vomiting at a crime scene. Jaime realised he was trying to breathe himself. He realised his hands were trembling, as he looked at the body of the older, red haired man, who had agreed to look into files that had been ignored for a long time, and he’d agreed to look at them as a favour to Jaime.

 _“This is my fault. I asked him to look at those files and the evidence, and now he’s dead.”_ Jaime thought to himself, horrified, as he heard the police sirens getting closer to them.

“We’re gonna need a forensic team.” Addam said softly. Jaime thought they would need more than that. That was when they heard footsteps. They both turned, guns pointed, to see Aegon, his eyes wide in horror, as he looked at the scene.

“Uncle Jon?” Aegon said softly, almost disbelievingly. He ran forward, and Jaime held him back from stepping into the trail of his Uncle’s blood, or from running to his dead uncle’s side. “Let me go! He’s my uncle! He needs me!” Aegon yelled angrily, tears ready to fall down his cheeks at any moment.

“I’m sorry kid. He’s gone. There’s nothing anyone can do for him now.” Jaime said softly. Aegon sank to the ground, and Jaime just held on to the teen as he sobbed, his arms wrapped around himself, his head on Jaime’s shoulder, and his eyes locked and riveted on his dead uncle’s face. What could Jaime offer this teenage boy that would be any comfort?

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

When their back up arrived, Jaime and Addam both explained to the chief what they had found. Chief Selmy looked furious.

“Someone took out one of our own! On our own turf! This is a police building! This is a police forensic lab! And Doctor Connington was one of our men! He served the police force just as much as any officer on the streets! He deserved better than this!” Selmy exclaimed angrily. He saw the boy, Aegon, as he was led out to an ambulance, clearly in shock. “The boy, he saw everything?” Selmy asked.

“Yes sir. We told him to wait in the car, but... he must have followed us inside. So he saw the state we found Doctor Connington in.” Addam said. Jaime looked at the boy.

“What’s going to happen to him now?” Jaime asked.

“He’ll be taken to the hospital, treated for shock, and then... who knows?” Selmy replied. Jaime wanted to see Brienne, more worried about her than ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know. I'm pure evil. I've been told already. LOL! Thanks for sticking with this story this far, and thanks for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. (nods)


	4. The Curtain Call!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... it took me ages to update this thing. LOL! I'm sorry. But I got a bit stuck in the middle, and then things actually changed in my head, and I was all "Screw it, I'm writing it this way!" So I rewrote things and... well... here it is. Sorry if you hate it, but I hope you enjoy it. More murder, blood, gore and mayhem for you all.

The Show Must Go On!

Chapter 4 – The Curtain Call!

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Jaime found himself wondering who would have killed Doctor Connington. The fact that he and Addam had found the body meant that they were witnesses. But Jaime had a bad feeling that this was to do with the case files that he had asked Connington to investigate. Addam was just as pale as Jaime, as they gave their report to Chief Selmy. As they looked over the scene, checking to see if anything was out of place, Jaime knew that the files were gone. All of them had disappeared. That left them with two major suspects in Connington’s murder. Janos Slynt and Roose Bolton. At the moment, neither of them could be found. As Jaime came out of the interview room, he saw Brienne rushing into the station, wide eyed and fearful. Behind her was Shae, with Joanna.

“Brienne? What’s wrong?” Jaime asked, as he rushed over to her.

“Shireen! Shireen is missing!” Brienne exclaimed tearfully. Jaime had a bad feeling about all of this.

“Did she come home from school?” Jaime asked, trying to keep Brienne calm. Brienne nodded.

“We walked home together like we do every day.” Joanna replied.

“Did Shireen go into her trailer?” Jaime asked Joanna. Joanna nodded.

“Yes. Then I went to practise with Uncle Oberyn. When I came back, Brienne asked me if we’d seen Shireen. I said that I’d dropped her off there before practise.” Joanna replied.

“We searched the circus ground and all around as far as we could, thinking she might just have gotten bored and decided to wander around.” Shae said. Brienne looked frightened.

“All we found was her blue Alice band that she wore to school, and that was on the front step of the trailer.” Brienne said softly. The selfsame Alice band was clutched in Brienne’s hands, her grip tight on the hair accessory.

“How old is your daughter, Miss Tarth?” Brienne looked at Chief Selmy. Jaime didn’t know where he’d come from, but he seemed as though he were concerned. That was a good thing, because old Selmy wouldn’t show concern unless he thought there was something to be concerned about. If he was concerned, then he wasn’t going to ignore the issue. Jaime could only be relieved that Selmy seemed to be taking this seriously.

“She’s only eight.” Brienne pleaded. Chief Selmy nodded his understanding, before calling together as many officers as possible to start a search. Jaime was determined to be a part of the search and saw Addam join him.

 _“We’ll find her. She probably just hasn’t realised the time and is messing around in one of the fields or near the Rush. We’ll find her.”_ Jaime thought to himself, hoped, as the police went out in droves to search for the missing eight year old.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

The sun was rising in the sky, but there was no trace of Shireen. Jaime was exhausted, but he refused to give up the search. That was until he got a message from Lyle on his phone. He said that Jaime was needed at a crime scene, and that it had everything to do with Baelish’s death. Also, it was entirely possible it had something to do with Shireen Tarth’s disappearance. Jaime clenched his fists angrily as he told Brienne, who’d been searching right alongside him, and she demanded to go with him. He didn’t refuse her, and so, soon enough, they were driving towards a field several miles from the circus. Jaime was shocked to see a burnt out car as they approached. Jaime pulled up and stopped the car. Brienne got out at the same time as he did, and he walked over to Lyle, who was still herding his associates in the right directions. He looked a little surprised to see Brienne.

“You said that this might have something to do with Shireen’s disappearance.” Jaime said. Lyle nodded and inclined his head as he led them over to a spot on the ground. There, lying on the grass, was a blue drawstring bag. The logo of King’s Landing Primary School embroidered on it. Underneath the school logo, near the bottom of the bag, the name _Shireen_ in was displayed in neat letters. Brienne gasped, as she gazed upon the bag, then Jaime saw tears flooding her eyes.

“Brienne, we’ll find her. I don’t know how, but we’ll find her.” Jaime said softly. He hugged Brienne to him, not sure what else to say, but trying to soothe Brienne’s pain as he looked at the burnt out car, and stroked Brienne’s hair, for what seemed like hours.

“The car is registered as belonging to a Miss Lyanna Stark.” Lyle said. Brienne looked at Lyle.

“Her car went missing the night Baelish died. We were all at the show, and Lyanna said her car was gone, when the show was over.” Brienne said.

“Why didn’t she report it missing?” Jaime wanted to glare at Boros Blount, as he spoke harshly.

“Because we know better than to trust anyone to help us with someone stealing from us. We’ve been keeping an eye out but...” Brienne trailed off, her eyes widened. “I have to go.” Brienne said softly. She was across the field and back at Jaime’s car, before anyone else could say anything to her, and Jaime had a bad feeling about all this. Before he went to go to the car himself, Lyle stopped him.

“What we’ve gathered so far Jaime, says that this is the car that knocked down Baelish. We found some of his DNA that wasn’t destroyed by the car being burnt, under the bumper. I sent it for testing before I called you. We also found some hair fibres in the car. But that doesn’t prove anything. It could be hair from any of the Stark kids, from Lyanna Stark, hell even from one of those huge direwolves. After all, it’s her car. But the seat was rearranged. I’d say that it was someone pretty short who ran Baelish over. But I could be wrong. The seat could have been moved by the perp to make sure that we thought it’d always been like that. But I doubt it. Burning out a car, the last thing someone thinks about is rearranging the seat.” Lyle said. Jaime nodded and went back to the car to drive Brienne back to the camp. He knew something wasn’t right, because Brienne looked frightened, and very unsure. Jaime wanted to do something, but he wasn’t sure what he could do to help at the moment. He also knew Brienne was hiding something, something important, and Jaime wanted to know what it was.

“Brienne? What’s going on?” Jaime asked her gently.

“I’m not sure yet. I... I... I need to get back to the camp. I... I need to talk to some of the boys.” Brienne said softly. But she would say no more. So Jaime got into the driver’s seat and soon they were heading away from the field, and the burnt out car. But Jaime had a horrible feeling that the truth of everything was about to be revealed and he wasn’t sure if that would make him happy.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Brienne got out of the car, when they got back to the grounds and before he could say anything to her she’d disappeared. She didn’t want him to know who she was talking to. That was obvious, and this worried Jaime. Had Brienne figured out something? Did she know who killed Baelish? Did she know where Shireen was now? So many questions and no answers for them yet. So he made his way towards the big top, hoping to find Olenna and maybe ask her some more questions. He was shocked to hear raised voices from within.

“We did what we had to do Brienne.” Jaime recognised the voice of Gendry.

“You took Lyanna’s car and burned it. What I want to know is why?” Brienne shot back. Jaime peaked through a slight gap in the tent flaps and saw Brienne facing down Gendry. Rickon was also there. The youngest Stark looked more nervous than anyone.

“Brienne, we had no choice.” Gendry said.

“Did you kill Baelish?” Brienne asked. She looked at both of them.

“I’ll tell you Brienne.” Rickon said. Jaime listened as Rickon related the tale. “The show had started, and I was bored. I’m never allowed to be part of the show. Not yet.” Rickon started...

_The lights of the funfair rides and around the big top, made the whole fairground look like a cluster of brilliant colour. Rickon frowned as he sat next to his trailer, well the trailer that he shared with Robb, Jon and Bran. Sansa, Arya and Aunt Lyanna shared the other one. Rickon hadn’t wanted to go and watch the show. He was bored and angry. He’d seen Baelish hanging around near their trailers and he wasn’t pleased._

_“Rickon? What are you doing here by yourself?” Rickon looked at Gendry._

_“I’m just sitting here. What’s it look like?” Rickon shot back. Gendry shrugged._

_“Come on. You might as well get a driving lesson in while everyone’s busy. I’m free now. Davos shut down the Ferris Wheel for tonight. We need to tighten some of the screws and... well... after what happened to Ygritte, Davos didn’t want us taking any chances.” Gendry said. Rickon nodded and allowed a smile to cross his face. He loved taking driving lessons. He was too young of course, but all the circus kids learned early, and that was something that his Aunt, siblings and cousin didn’t object to._

_“Okay let’s go.” Rickon stated. They went to his Aunt Lyanna’s blue people carrier. Of course they knew where she kept the spare keys for the monster car that they all called Rosie for some reason. Once they got in the car, Rickon in the driver’s seat, Gendry started instructing him and they drove out of the Circus grounds._

_They found themselves close to a bridge, about ten miles away from the circus, but still next to the Blackwater Rush. They’d been driving up and down for about an hour. Gendry had been getting Rickon to reverse in the car, make U turns and how to perform emergency stops._

_“You’re probably going to be a better driver than me Rickon. You’re doing really well.” Gendry told him. Rickon was proud of himself. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, some guy was in the road. He was short and Gendry was calling out a warning. Rickon hit the brakes as soon as he saw the guy. But the car still ploughed into him. “Shit!” Gendry exclaimed. They jumped out of the car, the headlights left on so they could see where they were going, and ran to see who they’d hit. It was pitch black along the Blackwater Rush Lane, at this time of night. When they finally saw who they’d hit, Rickon was horrified. He looked down at Petyr Baelish, not knowing whether he should just get back in the car and run him over a few more times. To make sure the bastard was dead. He was so angry and he didn’t know what to do. That was when Baelish started coughing, a sure sign of life, and he opened his eyes and looked at them._

_“Fuck? You little bastards from the circus!” He said. His voice was slurred, his eyes slightly glazed, and Rickon realised that Baelish was drunk. “Call an ambulance you little shit.” Baelish stated rudely. Rickon glared and Gendry held on to his shoulder._

_“Come on kid.” Gendry said. Rickon didn’t move for a few moments._

_“Did you fucking hear me? I said call an ambulance! If you and your fucking sister don’t want me to press charges, I’m sure there’s a way for her to pay me back.” Baelish slurred out. Rickon felt like a red mist had descended on him. He rushed forward and kicked Baelish as hard as he could in the ribs. The man vomited on the road as Rickon kicked a few times for good measure. But Rickon wished he could kill him. In that moment, he wished he could kill Baelish._

_“You come near my family, you come near the circus, and I’ll fucking finish you off! I swear to the Old Gods and the New that I’ll fucking kill you if you ever mess with my sister again!” Rickon yelled. Baelish let out a half laugh, half cough. Rickon was going to kick him again, but Gendry grabbed hold of him._

_“Come on! We have to go!” Gendry said. He took Rickon to the car and made him sit in the passenger side. Gendry jumped in the driver’s side, but his knees were squashed up onto the dash. He didn’t say anything, just started the car and drove off, leaving Baelish behind. Gendry was driving pretty fast._

_“Where are we going?” Rickon asked, he felt confused. “Why did we leave that fucker there?” Rickon questioned._

_“We left him there because he’s still alive. He can phone his own ambulance. We’re going as far as we can with this car, then we’re going to burn it out.” Gendry replied. Rickon stared at Gendry in shock._

_“I don’t get it.” Rickon said._

_“If we burn the car, we get rid of our DNA. Even if Baelish remembers it was us, he won’t have any fucking proof, accept that it was this car that hit him, maybe. If we burn it then no one is going to prove we were in this car, or that you were driving.” Gendry shot back._

_“But... why?” Rickon asked._

_“Because I’ll be fucking damned if that bastard is going to put you in jail, or try and con your sisters into working for him, over this. I’m going to do what I can to protect you Rickon. I promise.” Gendry said._

_They drove quite far. Rickon wasn’t sure where they were, but Gendry stopped the car in a field. Then Rickon and Gendry got out of the car, took some of the hydraulic oil and lighter fluid that Gendry would normally use on the machines and in lighters, after all most of the guys at the circus smoked and Gendry often borrowed Aunt Lyanna’s car when he went to get heavy things. Rickon knew he’d been out with the car today. They doused the inside of the car with it, and then Gendry opened all the windows, grabbed a piece of paper from an atlas that had been in the car, and used his lighter to light it. Then, Gendry tossed the flaming piece of paper into the car. He pulled Rickon away, but Rickon still looked back at the car. The flame spread, almost lightning quick, along the interior of the car, and it went up in flames. It was like a giant fireball, and Rickon was amazed by the intensity of it all. Gendry grabbed Rickon’s hand._

_“We’ve got to get out of here Rickon. We’re going to walk for a bit and then I’m going to call a cab from the next bar we find. It might be a while Rickon, but no one needs to know we were here. We’ll be okay, you’ll be okay Rickon. I promise.” Gendry said. Rickon nodded and walked with Gendry. Neither of them saying much, just walking away as Aunt Lyanna’s car burned behind them._

“He was alive when we left. He was alive. I swear Brienne! He was alive!” Rickon finished.

“Oh Rickon... Gendry... what were you both thinking?” Brienne asked.

“I didn’t mean to kill him Brienne! I didn’t! I don’t know how he got into the Rush! But it was me who hit him with the car. It was an accident! I hated that bastard but it was an accident! He was in the middle of the road!” Rickon exclaimed fearfully. That was when Jaime revealed himself.

“You didn’t kill him Rickon. You hit him with the car, but he would have survived. But shortly after you two left, someone stabbed Baelish in the neck. Did you see anyone, or anything, that you recognised?” Jaime asked. Gendry, Brienne and Rickon all stared at him.

“Jaime, you followed me?” Brienne asked.

“I didn’t, as I had no idea where you went. I was coming past here to see if I could find Olenna, maybe ask her a few questions. But then I heard the raised voices in here.” Jaime said gently. Rickon looked frightened. “Rickon, listen to me. I know I’m a cop and you don’t trust cops, but I want to give you both some advice. If you confess to hitting Baelish with the car, even though it was an accident, it means we can carry on looking for the real killer, and it would stand in your favour that you confessed. I’m sure that I can recommend to the DA that neither of you serve jail time. I can’t promise anything, except that I’ll do everything I can to help you.” Jaime told them.

“Why should we believe you?” Gendry asked.

“Because I don’t believe either of you deserve to go to jail. Not for Baelish. He was scum and you wanted to protect your family Rickon, and Gendry, you wanted to protect Rickon, right? You don’t deserve jail for that.” Jaime said seriously. Gendry nodded his head, looking at Rickon.

“I...” Rickon looked at Brienne. “You trust him right Brienne?” Rickon asked.

“With my life, Rickon, and with Shireen’s life too.” Brienne replied. That touched Jaime, to think that Brienne trusted him with her life and her daughter. “If Jaime says he’ll do everything he can to help you, then he will.” Brienne added. Rickon nodded and took a deep breath.

“I... I’d like to tell my family before...” Rickon trailed off. Jaime nodded.

“I understand that. Just... come to the station and ask for me when you’re ready.” Jaime said. He looked at Brienne. “Now, we need to see if we can find Shireen.” Jaime said. Brienne nodded. They left the big top, leaving Gendry and Rickon alone. Jaime knew that he shouldn’t, that both boys could take the chance to run, and it would be down to Jaime. But he didn’t think they would. Trust had to go both ways and Jaime was determined to give the boys a chance.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

It had been twenty four hours since Shireen had been reported missing, and longer since she’d disappeared, but the only trace of her had been her bag, left at the scene of the burnt out car. Brienne was frantic. Jaime had driven her to the police station, hoping that there would be some news waiting for them. But only moments after Selmy told them he’d heard nothing, Jaime saw a people black carrier pull up in front of the station.

“That’s Theon’s car.” Brienne said softly. Jaime watched as the Stark family, Gendry and Theon piled out of the car. Rickon held on to Lyanna’s hand, looking nervous, and Gendry just had his hands in his pockets, looking stern. Jaime knew why they were there, and it was almost sad to think they would have to trust the justice system now. Jaime could only pray that he could get them some leniency from the DA.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

“So, the youngest Stark boy ran Baelish over. The other boy, Gendry, helped him cover that up and neither of them killed Baelish. This is just getting stranger and stranger. Do we not have any way of narrowing down our suspect pool here?” Selmy asked. Addam and Jaime were stood in front of Selmy’s desk a few hours later, both were not in the best of moods at the moment. That was when Peck ran into Selmy’s office without knocking.

“Sir!” Peck exclaimed.

“Did you forget your manners in the last few hours Peckledon?” Barristan asked. The rookie cop shook his head.

“No sir, but we found Ramsay Snow’s address.” Peck replied.

“And? Did you bring the boy in?” Barristan asked. Jaime listened intently, hoping they finally had their suspect.

“No sir. The place was empty but...” Peck trailed off.

“But what?” Jaime asked this time, not being able to contain himself.

“His mother... his mother was dead. She was just... sat in an armchair in the living room, dead.” Peck answered, looking pale.

“Tell me she wasn’t murdered as well.” Barristan stated firmly. Peck shook his head.

“We don’t know sir. From what we can tell so far, it looks like she died from natural causes. But Lyle said we’d have to have her autopsied just in case Sir. She doesn’t show any physical signs of injury or struggle, so we’re not treating it as a suspicious death sir. Not yet, unless something turns up in the autopsy.” Peck said calmly.

“Then what had you so excitable that you felt the need to barge into my office?” Barristan asked. Peck took a breath, looking at each of his senior officers in turn.

“Sir, a little girl’s school jumper was found at the scene. It had the name _Shireen_ on the label at the back, in light blue. Like the bag that Lyle found at the site of the burned out car.” Peck replied. Jaime’s eyes went wide.

“Has her mother been told?” Jaime asked. Peck shook his head.

“No. Lyle sent me straight here with the information.” Peck said. Jaime made to leave the office then.

“Lannister?” Jaime turned to look back at Chief Selmy. “You know that this woman is a potential suspect in Baelish’s murder?” Selmy asked.

“No sir. She isn’t. She has an alibi for the time the murder was committed.” Jaime replied. Before Selmy could ask Jaime anymore questions, he left the office to find Brienne and let her know that more of Shireen’s possessions had been found. But he wasn’t even sure how he would tell Brienne that her daughter may well be in the hands of the man that attempted to kill her. But Jaime still didn’t have definitive proof that Snow was responsible for the attempt on Brienne and Tyrion’s lives. So Jaime decided to speak to Gendry before he spoke to Brienne. He needed to know that it was Ramsay he needed to be looking for, for certain. He made his way to the juvenile cells, where both Rickon and Gendry were being kept until they’d provided their passports, which would stop them being able to leave the country. It was the condition to them being allowed to go home. Jaime opened the door and looked at the two boys.

“Did Aunt Lyanna come back with our passports?” Rickon asked.

“No, not yet Rickon, but I’m sure she’ll be back soon.” Jaime told the younger boy. Rickon nodded and looked at Gendry.

“You wanted to ask me something right?” Gendry asked. Jaime nodded.

“When Tyrion was injured and Brienne was almost drowned, where were you?” Jaime asked him. Gendry blinked.

“I helped to set up the tank, put it together. I tested it before the performance, then I went to operate one of the rides. I think it was the waltzers I was running that night.” Gendry replied.

“Who else worked with you to put the tank together?” Jaime asked.

“Only Ramsay. He’s a creepy kid, but he knows machines.” Gendry replied. Jaime nodded and then turned to leave. “Detective?” Jaime turned back to look at Gendry. “What’s going on?” Gendry asked.

“Shireen’s school jumper was found at Ramsay Snow’s home. His mother’s dead body was also there.” Jaime told Gendry honestly. Gendry looked pale.

“Shit. You need to tell Brienne.” Gendry said. Jaime nodded and left the cell, locking the door behind him. He was worried about Shireen, about how Brienne would react to all of this. He didn’t know whether to be sick with worry, or sick with dread and fear.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Letting Brienne know the full situation had been harder than he ever thought it would be. But now, the whole circus was out looking for Shireen, except for the children, and Olenna, who’d volunteered to stay with them all. Brienne was trembling as dusk fell again. This was the second day they’d been looking for Shireen. Gendry was also searching, whilst Rickon stayed with the other children. Lyanna had brought their passports to the police station, so that the boys were not a flight risk any longer. Nobody wanted anymore of the kids to go missing and Olenna insisted that she was useless in such a search. She was old, stiff, and her sight was poor in the dark, and Jaime had been able to tell that Olenna was suffering with the loss of Shireen. Brienne had whispered some soothing words to Olenna before they’d left again to search, but Jaime was almost positive the old woman still felt terrible.

“We’ll find her Brienne.” Jaime said, as he and Brienne searched up and down the banks of the Blackwater Rush. He hadn’t slept in the last two days. He couldn’t. He was angry that anyone would dare to abduct an innocent child. But that wasn’t the worst of it. He’d seen parents go through the disappearance of a child before. He’d always tried to distance himself before. But with Brienne, he couldn’t do that. He knew her, he knew Shireen. He cared about them. How could he not be involved? He shouldn’t have been making promises that he wasn’t sure could be kept, but he couldn’t think any other way.

“Don’t make promises that you can’t keep Jaime.” Brienne said softly, her blue eyes piercing through his soul. It was almost like she could read his mind. Jaime found that one hand clenched around the flashlight he was holding, whilst his other hand clenched into a fist. His instincts told him that Ramsay Snow was playing with them. But why, and for what reason, Jaime didn’t know. As he and Brienne rounded a corner, near the Blackwater Rush, Brienne froze, her eyes wide, as she dropped her flashlight. As it spun on the ground, the light caught a shadow of something hanging from the bridge before them. Jaime aimed his flashlight in the direction of the strange shadow. He felt sick to his stomach as he looked upon another body, nailed to the bridge in the same way that Jon Connington had been nailed to the back of the lift in the coroner’s building. But this body... this body had no skin on it. Blood ran down the body in rivulets, and there was a pool of it underneath the body. Whoever had done this, had flayed their victim. Jaime felt like he wanted to vomit, but he saw that Brienne was looking at something else, lying in the sparse grass, near the bank of the river. Jaime aimed his flashlight on the object, and he felt the urge to be sick even more. Laying on the ground, on a bloodied, King’s Landing Primary, School tie, was a single finger, a child’s finger, painted with dark nail varnish. Jaime did vomit then.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Back at the station, Brienne was shaking. She’d answered all the questions asked of her, and she was numb with shock and horror. She’d even brought Shireen’s hairbrush from their trailer at home, so that they could test the DNA of her hair against the finger. Jaime knew, that Brienne was praying that finger didn’t belong to Shireen as much as he was, if not more.

“The finger may not be Shireen’s, Brienne. It might not even be real.” Jaime said. He was trying to bolster Brienne’s hopes, but Brienne didn’t argue, didn’t speak, she just stared blankly at a wall, looking dazed and lost. But after what seemed like days, but was only four hours, it was Lyle who came over to them.

“I’m sorry Miss Tarth. The finger we found... it belongs to your daughter. We tested it against strands of her hair from her hairbrush that you provided. We also checked it against strands of hair that we found at the... scenes, on the jumper and bag that were left behind... they matched.” Lyle said. Brienne shook her head, looking dazed.

“Lyle... is she dead?” Jaime asked. Brienne’s eyes snapped to both men, as though seeking the answer from them.

“She was alive when the finger was taken off. That’s all I can tell you. The collected blood around the... around the wound, proves she was alive when it was done. But... by the time we find her, she may well be dead. We have no idea if she’s alive right now, if the wound has been cared for, or if she’s had any kind of medical treatment, or even how she is being treated at the moment. We just don’t know.” Lyle answered. Brienne shook her head, her face full of disbelief.

“Then what are you doing about it? Why isn’t anyone searching for my daughter? Why isn’t anyone doing anything?” Brienne sobbed. Jaime felt his heart twist in his chest as he saw tears sliding down Brienne’s cheeks.

“We’ve put out an APB on Ramsay Snow. As soon as he’s spotted he’ll be brought in.” Brienne looked up at Addam from where she sat. It was him who had spoken. Brienne was shaking, tears still dripped down her cheeks.

“And how long will my child be in this monster’s hands until then?” Brienne asked. Addam looked confused and guilty at the question. “You don’t know. Of course you don’t. By the time this monster is found... my daughter could be dead... and there is nothing you can do about it.” Brienne said softly. Jaime pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her. He felt her tears on his shoulder. Jaime wanted to tell her everything was going to be fine. But he couldn’t bring himself to lie.

“Jaime... there’s more but...” Lyle trailed off. Brienne looked at Jaime and swallowed heavily.

“It’s okay Jaime. Whatever you find out about this case, whether I know about it or not, it could help find Shireen.” Brienne said. Her eyes were wide and swimming with tears. Jaime nodded and stood up, but leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek. He tasted the bitter salt of her tears as he pulled away.

“I promise you Brienne, we’re going to do everything we can to find her. I’ll do whatever it takes.” Jaime whispered. Brienne nodded her understanding and Jaime walked over to one of the empty interview rooms.

“I’m sorry Jaime. But you know our protocol.” Lyle said softly. Addam was leaning against one of the walls, waiting for what Lyle would reveal.

“What’s wrong?” Jaime asked. Lyle drummed his fingers on the formica table top.

“The body was a cop.” Lyle finally said, after a few minutes.

“A cop?” Addam asked.

“Detective Janos Slynt. It’s not official until we go through _all_ the medical tests, but all cops have their DNA on the database. His name came up. We’re just matching dental records to confirm.” Lyle said.

“Seven Hells!” Addam exclaimed. “Everyone said he was dirty, but... to die like that?” Addam questioned.

“Do you know cause of death?” Jaime asked Lyle, not caring if Janos Slynt had suffered. He’d been quite happy to turn a blind eye to what was happening to the people at the circus. How many others had he turned a blind eye to? How many had died, had been assaulted physically or sexually, and he had turned a blind eye to it.

“We can’t be certain, but he was flayed while he was still alive. I can tell you that.” Lyle replied. Jaime trembled, his hands shaking, whether through anger or fear and disgust, Jaime didn’t know.

“Do you think Shireen saw what happened?” Jaime asked.

“I don’t know Jaime. For the kid’s sake, I really hope she didn’t.” Lyle replied.

“We need to find Roose Bolton.” Jaime said.

“Bolton? The old leech? Why?” Lyle asked.

“Because if I’m right, he’s the next target.” Jaime shot back. He hoped that by finding Roose Bolton, they might get some answers. But for now, they had to keep searching for Shireen.

“What makes Bolton important?” Addam asked. Jaime sighed.

“He signed off on all of the coroner’s reports from the deaths that happened at the circus. He signed off on all the DNA reports on any assaults that took place there too. Slynt was the cop assigned to all the cases, and Connington... I asked him to look into those cases. The very day I asked him to look at them, he wound up murdered. Then we find Slynt, flayed alive. It can’t be coincidence. So if we can find Bolton before Snow gets to him, we might have some answers. We have to follow every lead to bring Shireen home.” Jaime told them. Lyle nodded and so did Addam. “Come on. I need to get Brienne home, then we need to go to Bolton’s house and question him.” Jaime said. Addam nodded and followed Jaime without argument.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

When Jaime dropped Brienne back at the Circus, he got out of the car, whilst Addam waited for him in the car, and he walked with Brienne to her trailer.

“At least I know who we’re looking for.” Brienne said softly.

“Brienne, I know that you all believe in your own justice. I don’t give a rat’s arse what happens to Ramsay Snow. What he’s done... I can’t even imagine how you’re feeling Brienne. But if any of you find him... you need to call me. It’s not just Shireen that he’s taken. He killed Jon Connington, a good man, with a teenage nephew, who agreed to look into the files of cases that went unresolved here at the circus. I have a hunch that he was killed for that reason Brienne. Finding Janos Slynt’s body just made that hunch doubly likely. Aegon deserves justice, just as you do, and Shireen does. And Janos Slynt was a dirty cop, I’ve got no doubt. But he had a family, a wife and kids, and they need justice too.” Jaime implored. Brienne nodded.

“I know Jaime. But if it comes down to a choice between him and my daughter, then I choose my daughter. You can’t blame me for that.” Brienne replied, her eyes stared straight into his own. Jaime nodded.

“That’s how I feel too Brienne. Believe it or not, I haven’t known Shireen for long, but I care about her. I care about what happens to her. She’s not my kid, but I wouldn’t mind having a kid like her.” Jaime said. Brienne nodded.

“I know Jaime. I know that you’ll do whatever you can to bring Shireen back to me. I’m just scared that she won’t come back.” Brienne said softly.

“I will do whatever it takes Brienne. I swear to you. Whatever it takes.” Jaime promised her again. She allowed a hand to cup his cheek, and his own covered it, not wanting to lose contact with her just yet.

“I have to tell the others who we’re looking for. It might help. They might know places to look for him. If they have any ideas... I’ll text you with the details.” Brienne said. Jaime nodded, and kissed her, feeling like he shouldn’t leave her, but knowing he had no choice. As they separated, Jaime had both his hands cupping Brienne’s cheeks, as he just carried on looking into her eyes.  

“Brienne, I lo-” Jaime began to speak, but Brienne kissed him this time.

“You don’t have to say anything.” Brienne said softly. Then she was gone, into her trailer, and Jaime walked back to his car, where his partner waited, and their next stop would be to find Roose Bolton.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Roose Bolton’s home wasn’t all that far away. Jaime was surprised that Bolton owned a home in such a well off part of the city. His home was rather large. It wasn’t the largest home on King’s Landing Row, by all means, but it was very large. It was large enough for Jaime to know that Roose Bolton was rich, therefore didn’t need the job that he had at the Coroner’s office. When Jaime and Addam knocked on the door, a rather large woman answered. She looked upset.

“Mrs Bolton?” Jaime asked. The woman nodded.

“Yes, I’m Mrs Walda Bolton.” The woman replied.

“I’m Detective Jaime Lannister, and this is Detective Addam Marbrand.” Jaime introduced himself and Addam. Walda’s eyes widened.

“Oh! You must help! My Roosie! He didn’t come home last night! He didn’t even call and that’s not like him!” Walda exclaimed, her countenance showed how afraid she was.

“Okay Mrs Bolton, you need to calm down. We’ll do what we can to find your husband.” Addam said. Jaime saw Roose’s familiar black Chevrolet in the driveway, by the garage door.

“Mrs Bolton?” Jaime asked. Walda looked up at him with her eyes swimming with tears.

“Yes Detective Lannister?” She asked back. Jaime gestured to Roose’s car.

“Is that not your husband’s car?” Jaime asked. Walda nodded.

“Yes. It is his car. But he isn’t here. He... he went for a run. He always does. He parks the car and goes for a run before he comes into the house and showers before dinner. I saw his car parked, at around five thirty, which is the time he usually gets home. But he never came back and he never called.” Walda said. “He would’ve told me. He would have. He told me he doesn’t want me upset at the moment.” Walda sobbed.

“Why particularly, would he not want you upset now, Mrs Bolton?” Addam asked.

“Because I’m pregnant and he doesn’t want me to be upset for my health and the health of our baby.” Walda wailed. Tears were once again streaming down her cheeks.

“What route does he take for this run, Mrs Bolton? Do you know?” Jaime asked her, trying to use a gentle tone, knowing this poor woman was pregnant and probably didn’t know what was going on at the moment. Walda nodded.

“He goes to the back gate, it’s at the far back of the garden, then he takes his run through the woods there.” Walda replied shakily. Jaime looked at Addam.

“We’ll go and check it out Mrs Bolton. It’s possible that he tripped and hurt his leg, we’ll see if we can find him.” Addam said calmly. Walda nodded, still looking very upset. Jaime and Addam both found themselves at the back of the garden. They went through the gate. Only a little way down the path, Jaime noticed a rust coloured stain on the trunk of a tree.

“Addam, call for back up.” Jaime said. Addam looked at the stain himself.

“Is that blood?” Addam asked incredulously.

“Just call for back up Addam. We don’t know what we’re dealing with.” Jaime replied. Addam nodded, shaking himself out of the daze he’d been in, at the realisation of the blood stain. Jaime ventured a little further forwards, he heard Addam make the call. That was when his feet seemed to give way underneath him, sending him flying down a steep incline and into a ditch. Jaime winced as he tried to get up. A sharp shooting pain went through his ankle, but he could still stand. It wasn’t broken.

“Jaime? Jaime? You alright there partner?” Addam called down to him.

“Yeah I’m fine. I just slid down into a damn ditch. I’ll be right up.” Jaime replied. He looked around for a way to get out of the ditch. Then he noticed a foot sticking out from under some bush. The foot had a running shoe on it, and Jaime moved forward, having a bad feeling about this. He nearly tripped over a book that was lying on the ground. The book had bloodstains on it. It was a copy of ‘The Illustrated Tales of King Arthur and His Knights’ and it had a beautiful, sapphire blue, clothbound cover. But the blood marred it. Jaime didn’t touch the book, and went straight to the bush. He moved some of the leaves aside, and realised he was looking at Roose Bolton. He wasn’t even sure if the man was dead or alive, at the moment, but he knew Addam had called back up. “Addam! Bolton’s down here! I don’t know if he’s alive or not!” Jaime yelled out to Addam, before looking any further at the scene set out before him. Bolton was covered by the bush, the only thing visible, had been his foot. But Jaime checked the man’s pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief to find the man breathing.

“I called for backup! And an ambulance is on the way Jaime!” Addam called down.

“Bolton’s alive! He’s breathing! At least for now!” Jaime called back. He looked at the book, laid on the ground again. Something was bothering him about it. The fact that it shouldn’t have been there was not the only concern that Jaime had. He pulled out a pair of rubber gloves from his jacket pocket and pulled them on. Then he lifted the edge of the cover of the book carefully. Inside the book, there was a neat typed note that could be found in most children’s books now. It said **_‘This Book Belongs To’_** and then underneath was a line where children wrote their names. In scruffy, looping writing, the name _Shireen_ was printed in blue pen. Jaime took a shuddering breath. Ramsay Snow had been there. But what did he want with Roose Bolton? Jaime knew he’d have to wait for the man to wake up, before he could find out. The trouble was that Shireen didn’t have that kind of time. When Jaime lifted the book fully, he saw a piece of skin, lying underneath it. It was a piece of skin marked with greyscale. Jaime shuddered, as he realised he didn’t need Lyle’s lab to ID the skin. Shireen was the only person he knew with greyscale scarring.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

It was a couple of hours later when Roose Bolton finally awoke. Jaime had been forced to get himself looked at, once he got to the hospital. He was fine apart from a twisted ankle, which Jaime felt he could live with. Jaime and Addam went in to see him, and the man looked paler than usual. His plump wife was fussing around him.

“We need to talk to you Doctor Bolton.” Jaime said. His tone broached no room for arguments. Roose looked at his wife.

“Walda, I would appreciate it if you went home and got me some of my own things. They intend to keep me here overnight, which is ridiculous, I can at least sleep in my own pyjamas.” Roose told his wife. Walda nodded so vigorously, that Jaime thought her head might fall off. Then she left, after fussing over her husband a little more.

“You need to answer a good few questions.” Jaime said. “First of which is why did Ramsay Snow want you?” Jaime asked. Roose gave Jaime a cold, straight look. “We know it was him. He left us a little present beside you. A book that belongs to a little girl that he’s abducted, along with a piece of her skin that he flayed from her cheek.” Jaime spat. Roose looked slightly uncomfortable.

“The last person he left with a present like that for us, he’d flayed alive. Detective Janos Slynt. I assume you know him, especially as the two of you interacted on so many cases.” Addam shot out. Roose frowned. Then almost seemed as though he were giving up, as he straightened himself out, so he could sit up properly in the hospital bed. The doctors told them that Roose had suffered a severe concussion, a lacerated left arm, and a broken right leg. Jaime could see the irony in it.

“Ramsay... is my son.” Roose said softly. Jaime and Addam were both confused then. “I... had a... fling... with his mother. It was years ago. I didn’t even know he existed until he was about twelve. My son Domeric... he had somehow tracked him down. He was twelve and he had always wanted a brother or sister. But his mother died when he was a year old. Cancer.” Roose explained.

“Your son tracked down your other son?” Addam asked.

“Yes. He was determined to play with him. One day, I received a call. Domeric had fallen from a cliff. He was dead. He’d been playing with Ramsay at the time. But Domeric was practically an expert in abseiling. He knew how to grab hold of hand and footholds. He went climbing with me every summer from the moment he was old enough to do so. But it was ruled an accidental death. I tried not to think about it. Then... these... cases... started coming on to my desk. All were meant to be accidental. Janos Slynt had been looking into the cases. He demanded I sign off on them, or he would reveal that Ramsay was my son. He swore he’d make me an accessory to my son’s crimes. Nobody seemed to care about the circus people, so I signed off on them.” Bolton admitted.

“Why tell us now and not earlier?” Jaime asked.

“Because now, Ramsay wants to kill me, and my wife, and her unborn child. Now Ramsay has a small child as a hostage. I was horrified, and before I could react anymore... Ramsay pushed me off of the steep incline. I think he must have thought I was dead, or he left me alive on purpose. Though I have no idea why he would do such a thing.” Roose finished. Jaime and Addam both looked at each other.

“You know this means jail time, right?” Jaime asked. Roose Bolton remained completely impassive.

“Maybe Detective, and maybe not. But by not speaking, I am putting myself, my wife and our unborn child in danger. Believe it or not, I’m rather fond of my wife and I should like to have a child I can be ostensibly proud of.” Roose said.

“So do you know where we can find Ramsay?” Jaime asked. Roose nodded.

“There’s an old cabin in the woods. It’s on my land, but we never go to it. It’s one of the few isolated places that Ramsay knows about. If he isn’t there then I don’t know where else he could be.” Roose told them. He grasped a piece of scrap paper and scribbled something on it. “Here’s the address.” Roose said, holding out the paper. Jaime looked at Addam, before he took the paper.

“We’d better go and check it out.” Addam said.

“You’d best take backup with you Detectives. Ramsay is completely insane.” Roose said calmly. Jaime glared.

“We’ll be sure to do that, Doctor Bolton.” Jaime stated. Then he and Addam left the room, both hoping that they could get there to save Shireen in time.

“I’m going to call for backup to meet us there.” Addam said. Jaime nodded his understanding, but then he saw Joanna.

“Joanna? What’s wrong?” Jaime asked her as she rushed over to him, red stocking cap on her head, looking desperately at him as if he held the answers to life’s questions.

“Uncle Jaime! Brienne’s missing! So are Shae and Jon! They disappeared on the search, and Olenna called me on my mobile and told me!” Joanna exclaimed. She was hysterical. Jaime felt like a hole had opened up beneath him, and he was just in between the moment where you were still standing, but about to fall into the abyss.

“How do they know that your friends are missing kid?” Addam asked Joanna.

“The others came across their flashlights and their phones, three fields away from the circus, and...” Joanna trailed off.

“And?” Jaime asked her. Joanna was shaking, her skin as white as milk.

“They found Shireen’s harmonica, next to... next to...” Joanna trailed off and started to cry then.

“What Joanna? What else did they find?” Jaime asked her gently.

“They found another finger.” Joanna sobbed. “They’ve called the police, but I don’t know what to do!” Joanna wailed. Jaime pulled his niece into his arms and hugged her close, hoping that with the new information they now had from Bolton, that they would find Shireen, and all the missing people, including Brienne.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Jaime and Addam pulled up to the cabin in the woods. It was isolated and quiet. Far too quiet for Jaime’s liking. They had a swat team for backup. It was as they got to the door that they heard screams. It was the screams of women. The scream of a child. Jaime let the swat team cave in the door, with a small, handheld battering ram. The swat team flooded in, Jaime and Addam following them. The sight that met their eyes was horrific. Brienne and Shae were both chained to the walls. Both were bleeding copiously, and Jaime wanted to rush to Brienne’s side, staunch the flow of blood. Shireen was chained in the opposite corner, sobbing and hysterical. Her face covered in blood, and more blood stained her white school shirt and blue school dress. But on the ground, blood pooling out over the wooden floor, trembling and trying and moving his mouth soundlessly, was Jon Stark. Jaime could see the boy had been stabbed several times, and didn’t know how long Jon could last under these conditions. In the middle of the carnage stood Ramsay Snow, bloody knife in hand, shirtless, and doused in the blood of his victims. He looked at the armed swat team, then at Jaime and Addam.

“Drop the knife Snow!” Jaime growled out. Ramsay did, as he smiled at them all.

“This has turned out to be a lovely evening.” He said cheerfully, as members of the swat team cuffed him and took him out of the cabin. Jon still twitched on the ground, losing blood, and Shireen still sobbed hysterically, while both Shae and Brienne were frighteningly quiet. Jaime could only hope they’d gotten there in time to save them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well..... you're here and made it to the end. I'm so glad! Sorry if you all hate me now. That ending was mean. But hopefully, the next chapter will not be long in coming, as it's the last one. So...... please feel free to comment and stuff. I'm truly grateful to everyone who reads, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I also hope the next one doesn't disappoint.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so happy I got this first chapter posted. I was so worried it wouldn't ready. LOL! Thanks to everyone who read. Kudos and comments are love! But I appreciate that you read it. (I wonder why I get so many hits for stories sometimes LOL!) 
> 
> Next chapter will be up soon. Jaime and Tyrion will carry on their conversation, possibly, Jaime will talk to Brienne, and... a CIRCUS SHOW! (blame American Horror Story for the Circus. I just HAD to write something in a Circus)


End file.
